Ionoluminescence in the presence of ionizing radiation

Abstract

An increase in the ionoluminescence intensity from a ZnS-CdS:Ag sample by a factor of more than 20 upon additional electronic excitation by UV light has been found. The effect decreases in magnitude with an increase in the energy of bombarding H2+ ions and peaks at an energy below 175 eV. This effect manifests itself in samples having a system of shallow electron traps and is due to the relaxation of highly excited anharmonic atomic vibrations, caused by the ion impact, through the electronic channel. A mechanism is proposed and computed for the phenomenon revealed.