Engineering broadband near-infrared emission via the strategic assembly of Cr3+ ion pairs in aluminum-based spinels

= 70.8%). Encapsulating the optimized NIR phosphors into prototype phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) achieves 65.26 mW NIR radiant flux at 1400 mA, with a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.12% at 30 mA, facilitating online fruit moisture detection, non-invasive bioimaging, and night vision applications.