Magnetically stabilized luminescence is observed in hexagonal boron nitride. The luminescence is induced by absorption of cold neutrons and is in the visible region. In the absence of a magnetic field, the photon emission level is observed to decay over several hundred seconds. A fraction of this luminescence can be suppressed if the temperature is T <~ 0.6 K and the magnetic field is B >~ 1.0 T. Subsequent to irradiation and suppression, luminescence can be induced by an increase in T or lowering of B. Possible explanations include stabilization of triplet states or the localization and stabilization of excitons.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0103281,
title = {Magnetically Stabilized Luminescent Excitations in Hexagonal Boron Nitride},
author = {P. R. Huffman and C. R. Brome and J. S. Butterworth and S. N. Dzhosyuk and R. Golub and S. K. Lamoreaux and C. E. H. Mattoni and D. N. McKinsey and J. M. Doyle},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0103281},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
11 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the Journal of Luminescence