Enhancing Mn‐Activated Mechanoluminescence via Pressure‐Regulated Local Structure in Centrosymmetric BaZnOS for Dynamic Response Applications

Abstract Self‐recoverable mechanoluminescence (ML), typically observed in non‐centrosymmetric luminescent materials, has recently been reported in centrosymmetric systems such as Mn‐activated BaZnOS. However, the underlying mechanism and structure‐luminescence relationship remain unclear, hindering the development of high‐performance optoelectronics. Here, it is demonstrated that Mn 2+ ‐activated BaZnOS exhibits strong, reproducible, and self‐recoverable piezoelectrically activated ML emission at the GPa level. Under compression at 0.6 GPa s −1 , the ML intensity exhibits 10‐fold enhancement from ambient pressure to 1.5 GPa, but weakens above 1.5 GPa. Interestingly, it shows an oscillatory ML emission with time scale of 110 ms at rates of 2.3–2.7 GPa s −1 . The ML behavior is distinct from photoluminescence (PL) with time scale of 0.3–1.5 ms, which shows slight attenuation at 0–4 GPa, exhibits threefold boost at 4–12 GPa, and then weakens above 12 GPa. The analyzed results show that the distinctive ML and PL behaviors stem from pressure‐regulated local structure, significantly affecting the local piezoelectricity and defect traps. Additionally, Mn 2+ ‐activated BaZnOS exhibits diverse dynamic responses in both temporal and spatial dimensions for potential optoelectronic applications.