Benle Dou, Zetao Shen, Haoliang Cheng, Jiaqi Ou, Shuangqiang Fang, Le Wang, Rong‐Jun Xie
Abstract Sensing technology and its advancements have played a key role in industrial production, human‐computer interaction, medical health, and other fields. At present, sensing technology mainly relies on two physical mechanisms, one is electrical sensing based on electron motion, and the other is optical sensing based on photon transmission. Since photons inherently carry multi‐dimensional characteristics (such as light intensity, light color, decay time, etc), visualization, high sensitivity, and other advantages, it has attracted more and more attention and exploration. In this review, recent progress on emerging sensing technologies based on luminescent materials, including stress sensing, X‐ray imaging, and near infrared detection, are overviewed. Aiming at these advanced applications, current progresses on design, selection, and synthesis of luminescent materials (such as phosphors, quantum dots, ceramics, and etc.) are discussed. Finally, future advances and challenges are proposed.