Phosphorescence history

UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy, pioneered by Beckman (1941), is one of the oldest and most widely used instrumental techniques, despite being regarded by some analysts as obsolete. Recently there has been a renaissance in UV spectroscopy with many new techniques, instruments and data processing methods [8]. Modem highest specification UV/VIS absorption and fluores-cence/phosphorescence spectrometer instruments extend their wavelength region from the far UV (175 nm) into the NIR region (1100 nm). Small footprint UV/VIS spectrometers (200-1100 nm) are now available. Paul [9] has traced the history of UV/VIS instrumental developments. 

It is worth giving a brief account of the early stages in the history of fluorescence and phosphorescence (Table 1.2), paying special attention to the origin of these terms. 

In addition to this clarification, many other major events in the history of fluorescence occurred during the first half of the twentieth century. The most important are reported in Table 1.3, together with the names of the associated scientists. It is remarkable that the period 1918-35 (i.e. less than 20 years) was exceptionally fecund for the understanding of the major experimental and theoretical aspects of fluorescence and phosphorescence. 

Tab. 1.3. Milestones in the history of fluorescence and phosphorescence during the first half of the twentieth century3 ...

Long-lived luminescence from protein-containing materials was reported many years ago. Debye and Edwards reported that a bluish light was emitted from proteins at cryogenic temperatures after illumination/11 Work in the 1950s established the relationship between fluorescence and the long-lived phosphorescence for the aromatic amino acids in proteins/2-41 Konev in his classic work Fluorescence and Phosphorescence of Proteins and Nucleic Acids summarized this early history.1(5)... 

Edmond Becquerel (1820-1891) was the nineteenth-century scientist who studied the phosphorescence phenomenon most intensely. Continuing Stokes s research, he determined the excitation and emission spectra of diverse phosphors, determined the influence of temperature and other parameters, and measured the time between excitation and emission of phosphorescence and the duration time of this same phenomenon. For this purpose he constructed in 1858 the first phosphoroscope, with which he was capable of measuring lifetimes as short as 10-4 s. It was known that lifetimes considerably varied from one compound to the other, and he demonstrated in this sense that the phosphorescence of Iceland spar stayed visible for some seconds after irradiation, while that of the potassium platinum cyanide ended after 3.10 4 s. In 1861 Becquerel established an exponential law for the decay of phosphorescence, and postulated two different types of decay kinetics, i.e., exponential and hyperbolic, attributing them to monomolecular or bimolecular decay mechanisms. Becquerel criticized the use of the term fluorescence, a term introduced by Stokes, instead of employing the term phosphorescence, already assigned for this use [17, 19, 20], His son, Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), is assigned a special position in history because of his accidental discovery of radioactivity in 1896, when studying the luminescence of some uranium salts [17]. 

The first technique for detecting properties of individual atoms on metallic surfaces was developed by Erwin Muller in 1936 (Chen 1993, 412). (For a history of this invention, see Drechsler 1978). This instrument, known as a field ion microscope, has a simple design comprising a vacuum system, a needle tip, and a phosphorescent screen. Muller s diagrams and discussion enable readers to visualize the technique he developed (Muller and Tsong 1969, 99) (Figure 1). 

Antoine-Henri Becquerel was bom the son of the physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel, and the grandson of the physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel, and it is not surprising that he followed in their footsteps. It is also not surprising that his research interests centered around solar radiation and phosphorescence, as these are phenomena that his father had investigated. He entered the Ecole Polytechnique, in Paris, in 1872, which he left in 1874 and to which he subsequently returned. Becquerel received a doctorate degree from the Faculty of Sciences of Paris in 1888. In 1892, he was appointed professor of applied physics in the Department of Natural History at the Paris Museum, and in 1895, professor of physics at the Ecole Polytechnique. 

C. J. Giunta (transl.). Selected Classic Papersfrom the History of Chemistry, compiled from 1996. Henri Becquerel, On the invisible rays emitted by phosphorescent bodies. Read before the French Academy of Sciences, 2 March 1896, http //webserver.lemoyne.edU/faculty/g iunta/becquerel.html... 

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