Glass network engineering of yellow-emitting Ba₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁:Ce³⁺ glass ceramics for full-spectrum lighting

Currently, a full-spectrum illumination scheme based on violet-light excitation is proposed to achieve high-quality and healthy lighting. Unfortunately, the most important yellow phosphors are extremely scarce owing to the low absorption efficiency of violet light and low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). In this study, glass network engineering of the B₂O₃–BaO–Sc₂O₃ system was developed to fabricate violet-light-excitable yellow-emitting Ba₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁ (BSB):Ce³⁺ glass ceramic (GC) with a record PLQY of 95.0% and superior stability. The optimized [BO₃]/[BO₄] ratio modifies the glass network structure, creating favorable sites for heterogeneous nucleation during in situ glass crystallization. This promoted the formation of well-crystallized BSB nanocrystals (NCs) within the glass matrix, consequently improving the optical performance of the BSB:Ce³⁺ GC composite. This enables the construction of both light-emitting diode (LED)- and laser diode (LD)-driven full-spectrum light sources with high color rendering indices (CRIs) exceeding 93, ensuring superior overall color reproduction quality. This exploration of violet-light-excitable GC composites is intended to accelerate the development of ideal sun-like lighting technology.