Multi-modal emissions from trinary active centers in piezoelectric semiconductor materials for intelligent sensing of stress and temperature

Mechanoluminescence materials have important promise as smart phosphors, offering wide-ranging applications in sensing technologies. Nevertheless, the creation of photonic materials capable of responding to various external stimuli and demonstrating multiple functionalities in different contexts remains a major challenge. In this research, we synthesized the doped piezoelectric semiconductor CaZnOS, incorporating trinary luminescent centers. This material exhibited multi-modal responses to diverse stimuli, including ultraviolet and near-infrared light, mechanical stress, and temperature variations. Notably, it demonstrated rapid responsiveness to various forms of mechanical stress, with a response time on the millisecond scale and outstanding stability. By adjusting the doping ratio of emitting ions, we achieved modulation of luminescent colors. Furthermore, the integration of dual-mode emission facilitated highly sensitive temperature sensing, independent of external light sources. These findings indicate that our material holds great promise for applications in intelligent sensing of stress and temperature. • By modulating dual emission centers, mechanically tunable luminescence with adjustable colors has been achieved. • Material is capable of responding to various forms of mechanical forces, with a response rate on the order of milliseconds. • Integration of dual-mode emission enables highly sensitive temperature sensing with excellent relative sensitivity. • Anti-counterfeiting applications based on multimode luminescence and two portable stress-induced light sources were developed.