Book Description
This comprehensive treatment of fluorescent lamp phosphors is the first published description of methods for their manufacture. It discusses the various factors controlling the selection of specific phosphors for use in lamps, and is unique in its systematic application of group theory to the problem of explaining the excitation and emission spectra in terms of crystal structure of the host material and the energy levels of the added foreign ions which are the so-called activators responsible for fluorescence. Unusual topics from various specialized fields are included since phosphor science requires a knowledge of several branches of physics, chemistry, and crystallography as well as some aspects of ceramic technology. The basic principles of the theory of atomic spectra, group theory, and the use of character tables for the thirty-two crystallographic point groups are included for convenient reference. The appendix contains essential tables for dealing with the spectra of ions in crystals.