Manipulation of Multimodal and Multicolor Luminescence via Interplay of Traps and Rare Earth Emission Centers in Calcium Tungstate

Multimodal luminescence involves color-tunable and wavelength manageable photon emissions upon variable luminescence pathways in response to different external stimuli, which provides clear visualization and high-level confidentiality for information encryption technologies. Integrating multimodal luminescence into a single matrix is regarded as a feasible strategy but remains a big challenge. In this work, multimodal (photoluminescence, persistent luminescence, upconversion luminescence, and thermally stimulated luminescence) and multicolor luminescence (green, yellow, orange, pink to red) is achieved in CaWO₄:Yb³⁺,Er³⁺,Eu³⁺ phosphor by employing an interplay of traps and rare earth emission centers. Bright emission in a wide color gamut is achieved dynamically in response to thermal disturbance and light illumination, which further allows for on-demand emission manipulation in space and time dimensions. The compatible coexistence of multiple rare earth emissive centers together with abundant photoactive traps contributes to the excellent integration of multimodal photon emissions in calcium tungstate. This work provides a good example of integrating multimodal luminescence into one single matrix and indicates potential in advanced high-level information encryption applications.