Mechanoluminescence of ZnS:Mn phosphors excited by hydrostatic pressure steps and pressure pulses

When a hydrostatic pressure step is applied rapidly on ZnS:Mn phosphor introduced into a pressure cell as oil suspension, initially the mechanoluminescence (ML) intensity increases linearly with time, attains a peak value for a particular time, and then it decreases with time (G. Alzetta, N. Minnaja, S. Santucci, Nuovo Cimento 23, 1962, 910). When a hydrostatic pressure pulse is applied onto ZnS:Mn phosphor, then two ML pulses of equal intensity are emitted; one during the application of pressure and the other during the release of pressure. In case of ZnS:Mn phosphor, at low hydrostatic pressure the energy produced during the electron–hole recombination excites the Mn2+ centres; however, at high hydrostatic pressure, the impact of accelerated electrons with the Mn2+ centres causes the light emission. Considering the piezoelectrically-induced detrapping model of ML at low pressure and the piezoelectrically-induced impact excitation model of ML at high pressure, expressions are derived for different characteristics of ML, in which a good agreement is found between the theoretical and experimental results. At low hydrostatic pressure in the range from 3 MPa to 40 MPa, piezoelectrically-induced detrapping model of ML becomes applicable in ZnS:Mn phosphors; while at high hydrostatic pressure beyond 40 MPa, the piezoelectrically-induced impact excitation model of ML becomes applicable. The ML induced by hydrostatic pressure can be used for sensing both the magnitude and rise time of applied hydrostatic pressure.