Direct laser printing of 3D optical imaging based on full-spectrum solar-absorption-enhanced perovskite-type oxides

The exploration of the solar light absorption by a material is of great use in photonics and optoelectronics. However, the fully exploiting of the solar spectrum of well-known wide-bandgap perovskite oxides (2.7-5 eV), remains very challenging. We show that the selective occupation of Bi3+ in the octahedrally coordinated Ba2+ is responsible for creating sub-bandgap states (as low as 0.6 eV), nearly 9 times lower than pristine bandgap (5.2 eV). We reveal that the role of the 6s6p excited state of Bi3+ is as a bridge to promote the dipole-allowed band-band transition for strong absorption. Furthermore, we demonstrate the double-sided laser printing of three-dimensional optical imaging based on the photothermal effect, enabling write-once-read-many information storage with ultrahigh stability and good data retention. Our results make Ba3-xGa2O6:xBi3+ a promising candidate for photovoltaics, ferroelectrics, photocatalysis, broadband photodetectors as well as other photonic and optoelectronic applications.