Britannica
Sources used in this answer
What kinds of energy can cause a material to produce luminescence?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
luminescence
Figure 1: Energy levels of a luminescent centre (see text).
Luminescence occurs when a material absorbs energy, causing its atoms to transition into an unstable excited state. As these atoms return to their ground state, the absorbed energy is released as light, heat, or both. Various forms of energy can trigger this process:1
- Electromagnetic Radiation: Photoluminescence is excited by radiation ranging from visible light to ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma radiation.2
- Electrical Energy: Electroluminescence is produced by the flow of electrons through a material, such as within certain crystals or via charge injection in a pβn junction.3
- Chemical Energy: Chemiluminescence results from energy released during chemical reactions.14
- Particle Radiation: Radioluminescence is caused by radioactive substances emitting alpha particles, electrons, and gamma rays, which excite materials like phosphors.5
- Kinetic Energy: Electron beams can also serve as an energy source to excite materials into a luminescent state.1
In these processes, the excitation typically involves the outermost electrons orbiting the atomic nuclei. The efficiency of the conversion of this input energy into light varies significantly depending on the material and the excitation method.16