Calculation of the kinetics of pulsed luminescence by means of an analog computer

Abstract

Electronic analog computers are successfully used to solve kinetic equations in, for example, the radiation physics of crystals [1] and chemical kinetics [2]. They have been used in a number of calculations of the kinetic constants in the equations that describe thermoluminescence [3–7]. However, it must be borne in mind that the numerical values found in these studies are relative in nature, since they are not connected to the parameters of a definite substance. The aim of the present work is to see if the mathematical equations give an adequate description of the physical processes in a definite material and to make calculations with an analog computer of the capture and recombination probabilities and effective cross sections of the corresponding electron centers. Concretely, an MN-18 analog computer was used to analyze the kinetics of pulsed luminescence of the phosphor KI-T1 (1 mole % T1) in the temperature range 200–300°K. It was established earlier that at these temperatures the electron-hole processes in the crystal have a number of features that lead to a change in the amplitude-time characteristics of the luminescence. For example, it is necessary to take into account the localization of free holes at V2 centers and the thermal instability of the activator hole centers above 290°K, which influences the luminescence intensity [11]. On the other hand, thermal destruction of the electron T10 centers leads to delayed luminescence [10].