Luminescence of Solids Excited by Surface Recombination of Atoms. I. Luminescence Spectra

Abstract

The luminescence spectra of the lumophors CaO, CaO:Mn, CaO:Bi, MgO, and MgO:Sb excited by heterogeneous recombination of nitrogen atoms were studied. The photoexcitation and photoemission spectra of CaO:Mn are compared with those of atom excitation. The spectra produced by atom excitation are found to be strongly dependent upon lumophor temperature and exposure time to atoms, whereas photoluminescence is not affected by these parameters. The results of atom‐excited luminescence are discussed in terms of surface‐adsorbed nitrogen atoms in weakly and in strongly bound states whose populations are strongly temperature dependent and subject to surface poisoning.