Enhancement of impact-induced mechanoluminescence by swift heavy ion irradiation

In this Letter, we report a strategy using swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation to enhance the impact-induced mechanoluminescence (ML) in ML materials. The impact-induced ML intensity of CaSrAl2Si2O8:Eu2+ was enhanced by about one order of magnitude by using SHI irradiation. Furthermore, the enhancement was found to depend on electronic stopping power and irradiation fluence. The density of traps of a type suitable for impact-induced ML is considered to be increased by the SHI irradiation, resulting in the impact-induced ML enhancement.