Luminescence is the emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat, thus being a form of cold body radiation. Electroluminescence is when a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or a strong electric field. Electroluminescence is the result of radioactive recombination of electrons and holes in a material, which is usually a semiconductor. A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity and is intermediate in magnitude between a conductor and an insulator. Electroluminescent Devices (ELD) are created using either organic or inorganic luminescent materials. The active materials are usually semiconductors that have a wide enough bandwidth to allow light to exit. The most common electroluminescent devices are made of either powder (for lighting applications) or thin film, (which is used in information displays). A problem with electroluminescence is that it requires a high voltage for it to work, between 60 and 600 volts. The benefit of using electroluminescence, in contrast to using other forms of luminescence, such as bioluminescence, is that it can be produced and used in greater quantities. One problem with electroluminescence is that it requires an extremely high voltage, which would cause it to be very hard to maintain for long periods of time throughout the entire city.
1 comment:
Lena, this was a really informative post because of your thorough explanation on electroluminescence; however, I do not agree that this would be the best photoemitter to power the city. This is because the high voltage is dangerous and, as you said, difficult to maintain.
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