Octave-spanning emission across the visible spectrum from single crystalline 1,3,5,7-tetrakis-(p-methoxyphenyl)adamantane

Abstract

Sustainable efficient light emitters based solely on elements-of-hope are needed to replace current compounds based on less-abundant materials. Functionalized diamondoids are a potential solution for this challenge, as a prototypical example offers efficient, octave-spanning emission across the visible spectrum in their single-crystalline form. Its large quantum efficiency increases towards higher-than-ambient temperatures to beyond 7%. The stability beyond 200 °C renders such functionalized diamondoids as sustainable phosphors for LED applications. Detailed structural and theoretical investigations suggest a crucial role of exciton states accompanied by structural modifications (self-trapped excitons) in the emission process.