Photoluminescence Spectroscopy

Abstract This article presents a brief introduction to photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy in solid‐state physics and technology, known as fluorescence spectroscopy in chemistry and biology. Though PL spectroscopy is usually known as spectral‐resolved spectroscopy, time‐resolved PL spectroscopy containing information about recombination lifetime of photoexcited electrons and holes has now become essential to the PL study on various materials ranging from nanoparticles to living tissues. Since a variety of methods of PL spectroscopy exist, they are classified into three categories, namely, static or steady‐state PL spectroscopy, time‐resolved PL spectroscopy, and frequency‐resolved spectroscopy, each of which groups several methods, and, moreover, PL mapping and imaging are also addressed in the text.