Luminescence of Boron Nitrides

Recently, a considerable interest has been focused on 2-dimensional hexagonal boron nitrides due to their prominent optical, thermal, chemical and electronic properties. Especially, h-BN consists of 2-dimensional hexagonal net-like layers of boron and nitrogen atoms and such atomic layers were stacked along normal direction. In contrast to isostructural graphene, h-BN is regarded as a wide band gap material with indirect band gap suitable for host of various impurities with light emitting performance. In particular, it was reported that incorporating foreign atom including rare earth elements can provide intense luminescence on h-BN. Unique properties of h-BN based nanophosphors can provide support on various optical application of the same materials. Here, we reviewed various reports on synthesis and luminescence of doped h-BN. In addition, potential application of the highly luminescent h-BN was also summarized.