Near infrared (NIR) luminescent materials are an exciting playground for telecommunications, biosciences and solar energy conversion. In particular, transition metal (TM) ions activated materials, which exhibit unique spectroscopic features such as broadband luminescence and long lasting phosphorescence in the NIR region, have attracted increasing attention. The local chemistry environment enables TM ions activated to have compelling properties such as tunable, broadband NIR emission as well as the adjustable decay dynamics. In this review, we firstly introduce the fundamental principles, the crystal field theory, for the NIR optical response of the TM ions, discuss the key physical factors to adjust the NIR luminescence properties of the TM ions. Secondly, we present a comprehensive review of the strategies based on local chemistry engineering for design the TM ions activated materials with the desired performance. Furthermore, we also emphasize recent advances in the application of the TM ions activated materials. Finally, we comment on the future requirements for the TM ions activated materials.

近红外 (NIR) 发光材料是电信、生物科学和太阳能转换的一个令人兴奋的领域。特别是过渡金属（TM）离​​子活化材料，在近红外区域表现出独特的光谱特征，如宽带发光和长效磷光，引起了越来越多的关注。局部化学环境使激活的 TM 离子具有引人注目的特性，例如可调谐、宽带 NIR 发射以及可调节的衰减动力学。在这篇综述中，我们首先介绍了 TM 离子近红外光响应的基本原理——晶体场理论，讨论了调节 TM 离子近红外发光特性的关键物理因素。第二，我们对基于局部化学工程的策略进行了全面回顾，以设计具有所需性能的 TM 离子活化材料。此外，我们还强调了 TM 离子活化材料应用的最新进展。最后，我们评论了 TM 离子活化材料的未来需求。