Dislocations in Motion: Engineering Mechanoluminescence via Pressure-Driven Phase Transitions

• • Reversible wt-ZnS ↔ sp-ZnS phase transition achieved at room temperature under low uniaxial pressure (0–30 MPa) using a standard tableting machine, eliminating the need for extreme conditions; this enables scalable, low-cost structural cycling for tunable ML devices. • • Mn-doped ZnS exhibits up to 2.7× ML intensity enhancement at ~10 MPa, attributed to enhanced local piezoelectric fields and carrier transport; this provides a quantitative benchmark for optimizing ML efficiency in sensing applications. • • Cu-doped ZnS shows pronounced ML quenching under similar pressure conditions, revealing dopant-specific energy transfer pathways; this distinction is critical for selecting appropriate dopants for pressure-sensitive ML materials. • • Dislocation-mediated phase transition (1/3⟨1120⟩ screw dislocation decomposing into two 30° Shockley partials) introduces stacking faults and localized distortions that enhance local piezoelectric fields, directly linking microstructural defects to macroscopic ML performance.