Long Lasting, Near-Infrared, Phosphorescent Material Created at University of Georgia
The above image was taken in complete darkness, the illumination we see is simply due to night-vision technology. The glow however is due to the near-infrared emission of a new long lasting phosphor and when I say long lasting I mean it. After only a minute of exposure to sunlight the material is capable of continuously glowing for up to two weeks. The applications for this are in the use of the military, obviously it’s useful to have glow in the dark displays and such but you don’t really want the enemy being able to see it too. As such only being visible via night vision is a big plus.
The mechanism behind this is the use of a Chromium (III) ion held in place by lanthanum gallogermanate. As the excited Cr+3 electron falls back to a lower energy level (emitting energy as it goes) the energy is trapped by a matrix of lanthanum gallogermanate and zinc that serves to limit its release.
