Switchable photoluminescence in hybrid bimetallic halides for solvent-driven erasable information storage applications

Abstract The dramatic expansion of data volumes has placed high demands and challenges on optical information technology, and the stimulus-responsive behaviors of luminescent materials have received broad interests therein. Thus, the reliable luminescence materials with fatigue resistance during the storage and erasure process are highly considered. Herein, we design and synthesize organic-inorganic bimetallic halides emitters Sc(DMSO)6SbCl6 (DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide), possessing bright yellow-green luminescence with extreme sensitivity to water. Accordingly, a rapid solvent-driven information writing and erasure process is realized. Benefiting from the weak interaction between Sc and O in the hybrid framework, the emission is easily quenched by structural dissociation in water and can be rapidly restored in DMSO in several seconds. Due to its ability to write and erase information through solvent-driven processes, Sc(DMSO)6SbCl6 exhibits promising potential for storing information. This work offers a new route in the development of hybrid bimetallic halides with switchable emission and erasable information storage.