Phosphor

Name:
Phosphor
Detailed information:
(fluor). A substance, either organic or inorganic, liquid or crystals, that is capable of luminescence, i.e., of absorbing energy from sources such as X rays, cathode rays, UV radiations, and alpha particles, and emitting a portion of the energy in the UV, visible, or infrared. When the emission of the substance ceases immediately or in the order of 10⁻⁸ sec after excitation, the material is said to be fluorescent. Material that continues to emit light for a period after the removal of the exciting energy is said to be phosphorescent. The half-life of the afterglow varies with the substance and may range from 10⁻⁶ sec to days.

Use:

Fluorescent light tubes; television, radar, and cathode ray tubes, instrument dials, scintillation counters.

See Fluorescence; Phosphorescence.