High-power broadband near-infrared (NIR) light sources based on laser-excited phosphors are highly desirable for photonics applications in night vision, biomedical imaging and sensing; however, the inherent energy gap law poses a great challenge for the development of efficient NIR luminescent materials. Herein we report a translucent MgO:Cr³⁺ ceramic fabricated by spark plasma sintering, which exhibits a broadband NIR emission peak at 810 nm, with an external quantum efficiency of 81% and ultra-high thermal conductivity of 52 W m^–1 K^–1. When pumped with a blue laser, the MgO:Cr³⁺ ceramic provides an output power exceeding 6 W with an electro-optical conversion efficiency of 29%. This laser-driven broadband NIR light source makes it possible to perform NIR imaging with a spatial resolution of 6 lp mm^–1, and is a promising technology for emerging imaging applications.

基于激光激发荧光粉的高功率宽带近红外 (NIR) 光源非常适合夜视、生物医学成像和传感等光子学应用；然而，固有的能隙定律对高效近红外发光材料的开发提出了巨大的挑战。在此，我们报道了一种通过放电等离子烧结制备的半透明MgO:Cr ³⁺陶瓷，该陶瓷在810 nm处表现出宽带近红外发射峰，外量子效率为81%，超高导热系数为52 W m ^–1  K ^{– 1} . 当用蓝色激光泵浦时，MgO:Cr ³⁺陶瓷提供超过6 W的输出功率，电光转换效率为29%。这种激光驱动的宽带 NIR 光源可以进行空间分辨率为 6 lp mm ^–1的 NIR 成像，对于新兴成像应用来说是一项很有前途的技术。