Triboluminescence at speeds greater than 100 m/s

Abstract

The emission of light due to crystal fracture, or triboluminescence (TL), is a phenomenon that has been known for centuries. One of the most common examples of TL is the flash created from chewing real Wint-O-Green Lifesavers®. This chapter discusses a unique material, zinc sulfide doped with manganese (ZnS:Mn), that can aid in the design of an impact sensor capable of discerning impacts with speeds greater than 100m/s. To achieve these speeds, however, hypervelocity guns and firearms must be used. As such, getting expensive equipment near the impacts to measure this effect becomes complicated. This chapter discusses how these complications were overcome as well as the groundbreaking results that showed that the triboluminescent spectrum shifts as a function of impact energy and ZnS:Mn can be used as the active element in impact sensors.