Physics And Chemistry Of Luminescent Materials

Everyone starting work in this field is faced with the lack of basic books. Here, two renowned researchers introduce the reader to luminescence and its applications, describing the principles of the luminescence processes in a clear way and dealing not only with physics, but also with the chemistry of systems. Particular attention is paid to materials such as lamp phosphors, cathode-ray and X-ray phosphors, scintillators and many other applications.

Luminescence, for example, as fluorescence, bioluminescence, and phosphorescence, can result from chemical changes, electrical energy, subatomic motions, reactions in crystals, or stimulation of an atomic system. This subject continues to have a major technological role for humankind in the form of applications such as organic and inorganic light emitters for flat panel and flexible displays such as plasma displays, LCD displays, and OLED displays. Luminescent Materials and Applications describes a wide range of materials and applications that are of current interest including organic light emitting materials and devices, inorganic light emitting diode materials and devices, down-conversion materials, nanomaterials, and powder and thin-film electroluminescent phosphor materials and devices. In addition, both the physics and the materials aspects of the field of solid-state luminescence are presented. Thus, the book may be used as a reference to gain an understanding of various types and mechanisms of luminescence and of the implementation of luminescence into practical devices. The book is aimed at postgraduate students (physicists, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, materials scientists, and engineers) and researchers in industry, for example, at lighting and display companies and academia involved in studying conduction in solids and electronic materials. It will also provide an excellent starting point for all scientists interested in luminescent materials. Finally it is hoped that this book will not only educate, but also stimulate further progress in this rapidly evolving field.

This book gives an overview on the fundamentals and recent developments in the field of luminescent materials. Starting from the definitions and properties of phosphors, novel application areas as well as spectroscopic methods for characterization will be described. The reader will benefit from the vast knowledge of the authors with backgrounds in industry as well as academia.

The papers included in this issue of ECS Transactions were originally presented in the symposium ¿Physics and Chemistry of Luminescent Materials, including the 4th Symposium on Persistent Phosphors¿, held during the PRiME 2008 joint international meeting of The Electrochemical Society and The Electrochemical Society of Japan, with the technical cosponsorship of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, the Korean Electrochemical Society, the Electrochemistry Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and the Chinese Society of Electrochemistry. This meeting was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from October 12 to 17, 2008.

Topics covered during the Professor W.M. Yen Memorial Symposium included; 1) identification of luminescent centers, loss centers and non-radiative processes, 2) synthesis and characterization of novel phosphor materials, 3) persistent phosphor materials, 4) high energy (x-ray, gamma ray, cathode ray) excitation of luminescence, including scintillators, 5) electroluminescence, 6) luminescence from glasses, 7) theoretical analysis of luminescence phenomena, and 8) synthesis and characterization of luminescent nanoparticles.