‘Tracers’ are bullets that emit light at the backside so that the shooter can see the trajectory of their flight. These light-emitting bullets allow snipers to hit targets faster and more accurately. Conventional tracers are all combustion type which use the heat generated upon ignition. However, the conventional tracer has a fire risk at the impact site due to the residual flame and has a by-product that can contaminate the inside of the gun and lead to firearm failure. To resolve these problems, it is necessary to develop non-combustion-type tracers that can convert heat to luminance, so-called ‘thermoluminescence (TL)’. Here, we highly improve the thermoluminescence properties of MgB4O7 through co-doping of Dy3++Ce3+ and Dy3++Na+. The presence of doping materials (Dy3+, Ce3+, Na+) was confirmed by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). The as-synthesized co-doped MgB4O7 was irradiated with a specific radiation dose and heated to 500 °C under dark conditions. Different thermoluminescence characteristics were exhibited depending on the type or amounts of doping elements, and the highest luminance of 370 cd/m2 was obtained when Dy 10 % and Na 5 % were co-doped.

Halide perovskites are emerging materials for next-generation display applications, thanks to their narrow emission linewidth and band gap tunability, capable of covering the entire range of visible light. Despite their short period of research, perovskite light emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have shown rapid progress in device external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the nearinfrared (NIR), red, and green emission wavelengths, and the record EQE has exceeded over 20 %. However there has been limited progress with blue emission compared to the red and green counterparts. In this review, the current status and challenges of blue PeLEDs are introduced, and strategies to produce spectrally stable blue PeLEDs are discussed. The strategies include 1) a mixed halide system in the form of 3-dimensional (3D) perovskites, 2) colloidal perovskite nanocrystals and 3) low dimensional perovskites, known as quasi-2D perovskites. In the mixed halide system, previous reports based on the compositional engineering of 3D perovskites to reduce spectral instability (i.e., halide segregation) will be discussed. Since spectral instability issue originate from the mixed halide composition in perovskites, the two other strategies are based on enlarging the band gap with a single halide composition. Finally, the prospects for each strategy are discussed, for further improvement in spectrally stable blue PeLEDs.

Bullets flying with a light from the back are called “tracers”. Tracers are ignited by the combustion gas of the propellant and emit bright light that allows the shooter to visually trace the flight path. Therefore, tracers mark the firing point for allies to assist shooters to hit target quickly and accurately. Conventional tracers are constructed with a mixture of an oxidizing agent, raw metal, and organic fuel. Upon ignition, the inside of the gun can be easily contaminated by the by-products, which can lead to firearm failure during long-term shooting. Moreover, there is a fire risk such as forest fires due to residual flames at impact site. Therefore, it is necessary to develop non-combustion type luminous material; however, this material must still use the heat generated from the propellant, so-called “thermoluminescence (TL)”. This study aims to compare the TL emission of Dy3+, La3+ and Ho3+ doped MgB4O7 phosphors prepared by solid state reaction. The crystal structures of samples were determined by X-ray diffraction and matched with the standard pattern of MgB4O7. Luminescence of various doses (200 ~ 15,000 Gy) of gamma irradiated Dy3+, La3+ and Ho3+ (at different concentrations of 5, 10, 15 and 20 %) doped MgB4O7 were recorded using a luminance/color meter. The intensity of TL yellowish (CIE x = 0.401 ~ 0.486, y = 0.410 ~ 0.488) emission became stronger as the temperature increased and the total gamma-ray dose increased.