Advanced Materials for Solid State Lighting

This book highlights the synthesis, luminescence, and applications of rare earth-doped phosphors materials for solid-state lighting. Solid-state lighting is turning into a leading technology in the lighting industry, permitting improvement in the fields from architectural to domestic applications. Driven with the aid of using ongoing multi-field research, solid-state lighting needs an improvement of various technologies: efficient and reliable light-emitting devices, devices for new functionalities, and optical solutions for beam shaping. Noteworthy research endeavors were aimed to find out eco-friendly, better performance, cost, and energy-efficient phosphor materials for the application in solid-state lighting devices. Power phosphor materials with advanced optical and photoluminescence properties in a wide range of areas have shared the research efforts in this sector aimed in the direction of achieving better material features. Rare earth ion-doped phosphor materials have been the subject of scientific interest because of their significant applications in a variety of fields such as display devices, temperature sensors, solar cells, bio-imaging, and optoelectronics devices. This book covers the broad aspects of organic and inorganic materials based on phosphor materials and is beneficial to researchers involved in these areas. This book is specially designed to provide an introductory concept of luminescent materials, particularly man-made (artificial) phosphors in a language comprehensible to beginners and students. The book also includes some new materials with promising technologies and upgraded properties that expose new potential possibilities are also highlighted.

Dr. Vijay Kumar is presently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the National Institute of Technology Srinagar (J&K), India. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the SLIET Longowal. From 2013 to 2015, he was Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Phosphor Research Group, Department of Physics, University of the Free State, South Africa. His research experience, as well as research interests, lies in synthesis, processing, and characterization of functional materials, solid-state luminescent materials, bio-based/biodegradable polymers, and composite, drug delivery devices, wastewater treatment, polymer nanocomposites, and ion solid interaction.

Dr. Vishal Sharma is presently working as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Forensic Science & Criminology (IFSC), Faculty of Science, Punjab University, Chandigarh (INDIA). He is currently heading the Institute at Punjab University. He has obtained his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Kurukshetra University, India, and Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC—an autonomous center of UGC, Government of India), New Delhi (INDIA). His current research interests are in the fields of Material Science (synthesis of smart materials for different applications, nanophosphors, hydrogels), Sensors (drug sensing, fingermark sensing), Molecular Spectroscopy, Forensic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Chemometrics.

Hendrik C Swart is Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He has led research in the area of the degradation of phosphors for field emission displays, as well as developing materials for nano-solid-state lighting. He has been key in the development of processes to synthesize and deposit thin films of various types of semiconductor nanoparticles, which will enhance the color, luminescent intensity, and lifetime of such displays. His research led to the establishment of a strong group working on luminescent materials and also to the establishment of several smaller groups all over South Africa. His research interests are in the areas of improvement of luminescent materials for applications in flat panel displays, solar cells, solid-state lighting, dosimetry, and thermometry.