ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM AND

LIGHT

Ref Books: Chapter-32, C.B. Carter and M.G. Norton, CERAMIC

MATERIALS Science and Engineering.
INTERACTING WITH AND GENERATING
LIGHT
If composition is changed, optical
• Ceramics: transparent, translucent, or opaque. behavior is changed. So, color of
ceramics depends on its purity.

• Color of ceramics: additions of additives and dopants.also point defects.

• Emit light in response to an electric field or illumination by
light of another wavelength. Ceramics have dipole(also electron) which is the reason for its interaction
with EMW.

• Ceramics can reflect and/or refract light.

• In pure form, most dielectric single crystals and glasses are
transparent to visible light. Charged ion/electron when vibrates, emits EMW.
• Metals, semiconductors: unless very thin (<1μm), are
opaque. Thin film metal can be transparent.
A material can be transparent to certain range of wavelength and opaque to the rest depending on its band gap.
INTERACTING WITH AND GENERATING
LIGHT

• Ceramics and glasses also show good transparency to IR.

Thus can be used as optical fibre.

• Polycrystalline ceramics can be highly transparent.

Poly crystal ceramics tend to be translucent due to its grain boundary scattering of light.

• If a transparent ceramic or glass is doped with transition

metal ions, it becomes colored. When light passes, the dopant interacts with the EMW.
Chromium ion determines the color of the cermaic.

• Doping of Al2O3 with Cr3+ produces ruby, which is used as

optical cavity in a solid-stateRuby
laser:
LASER.
first solid-state laser.
• Many more solid-state lasers using colored ceramics and
glasses as the optical cavity: doped ceramics to change
electronic band structure of the ceramic.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

• Radiation with a single wavelength is referred to as

monochromatic; λ and f are related through c:
• Frequency never changes regardless of the density of the
medium through which the monochromatic light passes.
• Velocity of propagation and λ do change.
• For a high-density medium, such as glass, velocity is lower
than it would be in a vacuum and, consequently, λ is
proportionally smaller (A dense medium has a lower c).
• Light waves are retarded because of interaction of electro-
magnetic radiation and electrons of atoms.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 POLARIZED LIGHT

Single wave length is obtained by plane polarization.

 NATURE OF LIGHT
• Maxwell’s equations: electromagnetic wave originates
from an accelerating charge and propagates in free space
with a speed of 2.998 × 108m/s.
• Electromagnetic wave in visible part of spectrum may be
emitted when electron changes its position relative to the
rest of an atom, involving a change in dipole moment.
Creation of dipole moment, emits light due to electron shift relative to atom.

• Light can also be emitted from a single charge moving at

high speed under the influence of a magnetic field.
• Dielectric material reacts to electromagnetic radiation
because opposite electrical charges are displaced in
opposite directions; this dielectric property is the
underlying reason for refraction and absorption in glass.
dipole reacts to EMW, orients in certain direction, again reverts to original state, emitting another EMW.
NATURE OF LIGHT
ABSORPTION AND TRANSMISSION

• The classical description of the absorption of

electromagnetic radiation by materials indicates that it
occurs by two basic mechanisms:
• Electronic transitions: electrons are excited from the
valence band into unfilled energy states in the conduction
band. insulator, semiconductor
• Absorption: the light excites vibrational and rotational
vibrating modes in the dielectric material since it is
associated with an oscillating electric field.
If energy of EMW is smaller than band gap, even then it can be absorbed.But this is not due to electronic transition.
ABSORPTION AND TRANSMISSION

• For a single-phase material we can express the fraction of

light transmitted, T, as (Lambert’s law):
I/Io remains constant for different Io

• I is the transmitted intensity, I0 is the intensity of the

incident light, x is the optical path length (the thickness as
seen by the light beam) and β is the absorption coefficient.
Beta is constant for a specific composition and wavelength.

• So, the fraction of light that is transmitted by a material

does not depend on the intensity of the incident light.
• The parameter β varies with λ; this variation is important
because it causes color when light is transmitted.
ABSORPTION AND TRANSMISSION

• If the absorption is due to a particular dopant ion then

Lambert’s law is modified by setting β equal to εC; C is the
concentration of the absorbing ion and ε is the absorption
per unit concentration (Beer–Lambert law).
• In real life, we also have scattering by defects in the bulk or
at the surface.
• Ultraviolet absorption corresponds to electronic transitions
from the filled valence band to the unfilled conduction
band: the larger Eg is, the greater the range of
transparency in the UV.
• Infrared absorption occurs by elastic vibrations. Stretching
and bending
of covalent
bond???
 REFRACTION Special case of transmission.

• Refraction is the phenomenon that is responsible for

making lenses work.
• The ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to that in any
other medium is known as the refractive index, n.
• Expressed mathematically, n is given by the simple
equation
=sin i/ sin r

• cm is the velocity of light in the material (the medium).

• Since cm is always less than c, values of n are always
greater than unity and range from 1.0003 (air) to
approximately 3.0 for very dense solids.
 REFRACTION
• Clearly n is not a constant for any ceramic, since it depends
on cm; n is a function of λ.
• The variation of n with λ produces a dispersion of the light:

• The ability of a substance to refract or “bend” light waves

is sometimes described as refringence.
• Crystals having one unique axis (optic axis) along which the
index of refraction is different from the index along the
other orthogonal axes are known as uniaxial birefringent
crystals. Non- cubic structure is isotropic, so non cubic structure may have bifringence.
• Magnitude of the difference between the two indices of
refraction is referred to as the birefringence, or simply, Δn.
 REFRACTION
• It is defined as:
• ne is the index of refraction of a light wave vibrating in a
plane parallel to the optic axis but traveling in a direction
perpendicular to the optic axis, no is the index of refraction
of a wave vibrating parallel to either of the other axes and
traveling in the direction of the optic axis, o is the ordinary
ray, and e is the extraordinary ray.
• The value of the birefringence may be positive or negative.
• Glass cannot be birefringent because it is isotropic.
• Ceramics from all noncubic crystal systems do show
birefringence.
No bifringence for isotropic material.
 REFLECTION
• Amount of light reflected from a surface of a material in air
is determined by refractive index of the reflecting medium.
• At normal incidence, the fraction, R, of light reflected (in
medium 1) from the interface between two dielectric
materials (1 and 2) is given by Fresnel’s equation:

• For air (n1 1) and “optical” glass (n2 1.5) R is 4%,

whereas lead-crystal glass (n2 2.1) gives an R of 13%.
T=(1-R)/(1+R) increase in n = increase in
R = decrease in T
 REFLECTION

• This equation is very important when we use dielectrics as

antireflection coatings (ARCs).
• We then have to consider two interfaces. Air-coat, coat-glass
• The thickness of the films and the nature of the reflecting
surface will also be important. Thickness changes reflectance.Since, thickness
can change absorbance and transmittence.
• Ceramic applications of reflection are numerous but are
often linked to refraction.
 TRANSPARENCY
• Dielectrics generally show good transmission in the visible
part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
UV• Absorption corresponds to electronic transitions from the
filled valence band to the unfilled conduction band.
• Ceramics with large values of band gap are transparent to
shorter UV wavelengths.
• In the IR, absorption by elastic vibrations is the result of
loss of transparency. ???? UV vis curve kemon hobe?
• This absorption occurs at longer wavelengths for materials
that contain large ions held together by weak interatomic
forces.
• Transparency in the microwave and radio frequency.
 Metal virtually TRANSPARENCY
has no band absorption by
gap, so the electron
absorption transition,i.e,
mechanism is band gap
different. mechanism.

Elastic
vibrations
cause this
absorption
 1. Defects states are generated
in shallow level, they cause easy
absorption
2. Even if shallow level doesn't

TRANSPARENCY
generate, defect is generated
that causes scattering which is a
part of absorbance

Reduced band gap,

pushes absorption
edge to right.
 REFRACTIVE INDEX
• Refraction is the bending of a beam of light when it enters
a dielectric.
• The physical reason for this is that the velocity of light is
different inside the dielectric.
• This happened in water or glass but in crystals the situation
can be more complex when crystals are anisotropic.

Due to
bifringes, one
pin appears
to be two.
 Red bends the
least, Violet bends
REFRACTIVE INDEX most.
• Value of n is a function of λ, it decreases as λ increases.
• Colorless solids and glasses have characteristic frequencies
in the UV where they become opaque.
• For example, the important characteristic frequencies for
glasses occur at λ = 100 nm.

Denser the medium,

more interaction,
higher n
higher wave
length, lower
n
 REFRACTIVE INDEX

????

Different
wavelength
has different
dispersion
angle.
1. Smaller wavelength
in medium, will have higher n,
higher dispersion angle
2. Denser the medium, higher
the n
 REFRACTIVE INDEX
Everything is dependent on n, n controls R, R controls T

Several factors influence n:

• Ion size: Large ions have large values of n because large
ions are more easily polarized than small ions.
• Structure: Less dense polymorphs of a particular material
will have a more open structure and thus a lower n than
their denser counterparts.
• Crystallographic direction: Glasses and crystals with a cubic
structure are optically isotropic, in all other crystal systems
n is higher along close packed directions.
higher interaction in those directions.
 REFRACTIVE INDEX Anisotropic behavior is
induced.
• Stress: The application of tensile stress to an isotropic
material causes an increase in n normal to the direction of
the applied stress and decreases n along stressed direction.
• The situation is the exact opposite if a compressive stress is
applied.
• Change of n with applied stress is as stress birefringence.

Can be used to
check if a sample is
stress free-
photoelastic stress analysis?
Surface roughness also controls reflectionj.

REFLECTION FROM CERAMIC SURFACES

• We can determine the reflectivity from the surface of

various ceramics and glasses.
• The reflectivity is about 4% from a surface with n = 1.5 and
about 10% for a surface with n = 1.9.
• A high reflectivity is often important for aesthetic reasons.
• The high reflectivity, R = 13%, of lead “crystal” glass, glass
that contains a high amount of PbO, is due to its high
refractive index, n = 2.1.
• The reflectivity is more than twice that of normal silicate
glasses.
REFLECTION FROM CERAMIC SURFACES

• High reflectivity is important for gemstones, where it

affects the brightness and sparkle of the stone.
• This is partly the result of the cutting skills of the jeweler
and the fact that gemstones have high values of n.
smoothness of cut surface

• The refractive index of diamond is 2.4.

• High reflectivity for glazes and enamels is also important
and can be achieved by using glass formulations with a
high PbO content.
• Hence there is a protocol for the leach-testing of glazes
(leach out into food and beverage items).
REFLECTION FROM CERAMIC SURFACES
• Reflectivity of glaze or enamel is reduced if surface is rough.
• Roughness causes considerable diffuse reflection from
surface.
• Specular reflection is light reflected at a single angle
(conventional reflection).
• Diffuse reflection occurs when light is reflected through a
range of different angles.
wavelength and radius
relation????
ANTIREFLECTION (AR) COATING

• In some situations, we do not want a high reflectivity.

• In fact, we want to minimize the reflectivity as far as
possible.
• One very effective way of reducing the reflectivity of a
glass surface is to coat it with an antireflection (AR)
coating.
• A good ARC can cut the percentage of light reflected from
>5% to <0.2%.
• One example is the purple-colored ARC on binocular and
camera lens.
ANTIREFLECTION (AR) COATING

• Coating is applied onto glass surface so that its thickness is

a multiple of the wavelength plus a quarter wavelength of
incident light.
• Light reflected from the top surface of the coating is
exactly out of phase with light reflected from the glass
surface, and so there is destructive interference and no net
reflected beam.
• Magnesium fluoride is a widely used ARC material and is
usually applied onto the glass surface by a physical vapor
deposition (PVD) process such as evaporation.
• single layer will reduce the reflectance of glass from about
4% to a little more than 1% over the visible spectrum.
ANTIREFLECTION (AR) COATING
out of phase,
destructie
interference
ANTIREFLECTION (AR) COATING
• Antireflective lenses should not be confused with polarized
lenses, which decrease (by absorption) the visible glare of
sun reflected off surfaces such as sand, water, and roads.
• The term "antireflective" relates to the reflection from the
surface of the lens itself, not the origin of the light that
reaches the lens.
• Eliminating reflections allows slightly more light to pass
through, producing a slight increase in contrast and visual
acuity.
• By using alternating layers of a low-index material like silica
and a higher-index material, it is possible to obtain
reflectivities as low as 0.1% at a single wavelength.
BENEFITS OF ANTI-REFLECTIVE LENS
COATINGS
• Increase visual clarity: AR coatings enhance the way you
see the world by allowing more light to pass through the
lens while eliminating glare, so you have clear vision on the
job, in the classroom, around the house, and behind the
wheel.
• Enhance appearance: By removing harsh reflections from
your lenses, AR coatings allow others to see you – not that
annoying glare.
• Extend life of lenses: AR coatings protect your glasses
against glares, resulting in lenses that last longer.
BENEFITS OF ANTI-REFLECTIVE LENS
COATINGS
• Reduce blue light exposure: Specialty AR coatings combat
digital eye strain by reducing exposure to blue light from
digital devices and lighting; digital eye strain is irritated
feeling you get in your eyes after looking at a digital screen
for a few hours.
• Protect eyes from UV rays: AR coatings can also help
protect eyes from the sun’s damaging rays, UV protection
can be added to the backside of the lenses to defend your
eyes against UV rays reflected off surfaces like windows.
BENEFITS OF ANTI-REFLECTIVE LENS
COATINGS
BENEFITS OF ANTI-REFLECTIVE LENS
COATINGS
 TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS
Neither reflecting, nor transmitting

• Polycrystalline ceramics are often opaque, even though the

single crystal may be transparent and band gap is large.
• The loss of transparency is due to scattering of the incident
light, which can have several possible causes.
• Porosity: The transmission decreases markedly with small
increases in porosity. pore size=wavelength(Maximum scattering)
• When the pore size is close to the λ of visible light then the
scattering is maximized.
• This scattering can be engineered by controlling the
sintering conditions or by hot pressing.
TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS
 TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS

• Differences in n: In general, light scattering can occur at

grain boundaries (GBs) where refractive indices are
discontinuous; this is especially easy for noncubic (i.e.,
anisotropic) structures.
• A similar situation can occur in multiphase materials, such
as ceramics densified by liquid-phase sintering, where
there may be an intergranular film (IGF).
• Matching refractive indices between different phases can
reduce scattering losses.
• This approach is used in making high-quality bone china.
 TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS

• Grain size, r. : Scattering is at a maximum when r is close to

λ of visible light.
• For grain sizes smaller than the wavelength of the incident
radiation, the scattering increases with r and is
proportional to λ−4.
• Scattering decreases rapidly as r increases and for large r it
reaches a constant value.
• Frosted glass appears to be opaque because light is
scattered at the surface (through the process of
sandblasting or acid etching).
TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS
TRANSLUCENT CERAMICS
 all absorbing,
or all reflecting.

OPACITY OF CERAMICS

• Different processes can lead to opacity including

absorption, reflection, and scattering. controls
translucence

• An entirely opaque substance transmits no light, and

therefore reflects, scatters, or absorbs all of it.
• An opaque object is neither transparent (allowing all light
to pass through) nor translucent (allowing some light to
pass through).
 LIGHT AND COLOR

Ref Books: Chapter-32, C.B. Carter and M.G. Norton, CERAMIC

MATERIALS Science and Engineering.
COLOR IN CERAMICS
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• Most dielectric ceramics and glasses are colorless because

of their large Eg.
• They become colored when energy states are added within
the band gap.
• These new levels allow electron transitions to occur within
the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The most common way to color a ceramic is by adding
transition metals (TM), particularly Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co,
and Ni, where the 3d is partly filled.
• To explain how the addition of a TM to a colorless ceramic
makes it colored we use the ligand field theory.
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• In ceramics the most common ligand is oxygen, the O2− ion.

• To understand the behavior of a transition metal once it is
placed in a ligand field, we need to consider the shapes of
the d orbitals.
• There are five of them and they are designated dxy, dxz, dyz,
dx2−y2, and dz2.
• In a free ion, all the d orbitals are degenerate (i.e., they
have the same energy).
• However, when the ion is put into a crystal the energy of
the d orbitals is affected by the ligands.
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• Consider the case of the Ti3+ ion, which contains only a

single 3d electron.
• If the Ti3+ ion is in an octahedral site (i.e., it is surrounded
by six anions arranged at the corners of an octahedron) the
energy of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals is raised relative to the
free Ti3+ ion because of repulsion from the surrounding
anions.
• The energy of the other three orbitals is lowered.
• If the Ti3+ ion were placed in a tetrahedral site (i.e., it is
surrounded by four anions arranged at the corners of a
tetrahedron), the energy of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals is
lowered with respect to the dxy, dxz and dyz orbitals.
COLOR IN CERAMICS
Non-degenerate

Non-degenerate

Degenerate
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• The total splitting for d orbitals is in the range of 1–2 eV,

being lower for a tetrahedral ligand field than for an
octahedral field.
• Hence absorption of light, associated with electronic
transitions between the lower and upper d levels,
generally occurs in the visible or near IR regions of the
spectrum.
• The situation is actually a little more complicated if we
consider corundum, because the octahedral sites are
slightly distorted.
• This distortion produces further splitting of the energy
levels.
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• We can use a similar argument to show how the addition

of rare earth (RE) elements, with incomplete f shells, also
causes color.
• Rare earth ions tend to color glass less strongly than do
transition metal ions.
 COLOR IN CERAMICS
An F center or Farbe center is a type of crystallographic defect in which an anionic vacancy in a crystal lattice is
occupied by one or more unpaired electrons

• F centers in alkali halides, which result from heating in

alkali vapor, an F center in metal halides consists of a
halide ion vacancy that has trapped an electron.
• This process creates additional energy levels between the
valence band and the conduction band.
• A similar situation is found in MgO heated in Mg vapor: the
F center consists of two electrons trapped at an oxygen
vacancy.
• F centers are one example of so-called color centers.
• There are other types of possible color centers in ionic
materials involving electrons and holes.
Acceptor level can be generated by-1. By doping, 2. By heating metal halide in metal vapor forming anion vacancy
defect filled by electron.
 COLOR IN CERAMICS

• Defects produced by X-ray or neutron bombardment.

• Irradiation of colorless quartz crystals with X-rays will
result in the formation of a dark brownish gray to black
color of “smoky quartz.”
• Coloration is due to the formation of a color center, a hole
color center this time.
• If the smoky quartz is heated to several hundred °C it will
become clear again. bleaching effect.
• Defect states produced as a result of non-stoichiometry.
 COLOR CENTERS

• The term color center is now applied to any defect,

including an impurity, that produces color in an insulator.
• The original observation was made in Germany using X-
rays to color alkali halides by producing F centers (“F” is for
Farben: German for color).
• The color is the complement of what is absorbed by the
color center., colors are produced in most of the alkali
halides following irradiation with ionizing radiation and are
characteristic of the crystal not the radiation source used.
• These F centers are due to an electron or hole trapped at
an ion vacancy sites, other types of color center can give
other colors.
 COLOR CENTERS

• Several different types of color center have been

identified; V centers are is cation vacancies with trapped
holes. V and F+
center??
• Color centers can also form in oxides such as MgO; When a
single electron is trapped at an anion vacancy in MgO, the
defect is positively charged and is referred to as the F+
center; An F center in MgO is a vacancy with two electrons.
• The unpaired electron which produces color by light
absorption into excited states does not have to be located
on a transition element ion; under certain circumstances it
can be located on a nontransition-element impurity ion or
on a crystal defect such as a missing ion.
COLOR CENTERS
 COLOR CENTERS

• A color center often involves a solid that is missing an

atom, such as sodium chloride, an ionic crystal that
consists of a three-dimensional array of positively charged
sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.
• When a negative chloride ion is missing from the crystal,
electrical neutrality can be maintained if a free electron
occupies the spot vacated by the chloride ion, forming an
F-center.
• This replacement electron can be viewed as providing a
trapping energy level within the large band gap.
 COLOR CENTERS

• One way of producing F-centers in a crystal artificially is to

heat it in an atmosphere of the metal of which it is
constituted, e.g., heating NaCl in a metallic Na
atmosphere.

• Na+ is incorporated into the NaCl crystal after giving up an

electron, a Cl− vacancy is generated to balance the excess
Na+.
• The effective positive charge of the Cl− vacancy traps the
electron released by the Na atom, this trapping of the
electrons by anion vacancies results in the formation of F-
centers.
 COLOR CENTERS
• The electron so trapped can absorb only certain colors of
light.
• F-centers in sodium chloride absorb only blue light, giving
the solid a yellow-orange tinge.
• Sodium chloride is usually colorless, however, because its
electrons are not free to move to vacancies formed by
removal of negative chloride ions from the solid.
• X-rays striking the solid, for example, may produce color
centers by freeing electrons.
• Where a material with lower band gap energy is already
naturally yellow, the effect of additional absorption by
color centers is a less apparent color change.
 COLOR CENTERS
• The electron, trapped in the huge cavity may assume
several allowed energy levels, absorbing visible light
wavelengths.
• Elevated temperature may increase the amplitude of
thermal vibration enough to allow the electron to escape
the cavity and return to its original site in the crystal
structure, destroying the color center.
• Even the gentle heating of the sun may cause color to fade
in gems like topaz.
• If an electron is missing from a location where there
usually is an electron pair, we have a "hole" color center.
 COLOR CENTERS

Formed by Acts as a
defect box of
center not electron.
by doping, Until the
thus we electron
don't call it jumps to
donor level. conduction
level,
Electron excess internal
Heating will electron
cause the jump and
electron to fall can
move to occur.
conduction
band and
the coloring
effect will
be lost=
bleaching Difference between
effect. halide vacancy trap and
donor level coloring
mechanism????
 ????? ?????

NBE AND DLE Energy

corresponding
Left side is to Eg is
absorbed but emitted
not emitted.

PL test gives
emission
after absorption
Due to defect
reaction.
 DEFECT STATES

Responds
only to specific
wavelengths
 LIGHT AND COLOR [CONTD...]

34

Ref Books: Chapter-32, C.B. Carter and M.G. Norton, CERAMIC

MATERIALS Science and Engineering.
 COLOR OF METALS
• When a photon of light is absorbed by an electron near top
of energy band, the electron is raised to a higher available
energy level within the band.
• The light is so intensely absorbed that it can penetrate to a
depth of only a few hundred atoms, typically less than a
single wavelength.
• Because the metal is a conductor of electricity, this
absorbed light, which is, after all, an electromagnetic wave,
induces alternating electrical currents on the metal
surface.
• These currents immediately reemit the photon out of the
metal, thus providing the strong reflection of a polished
metal surface.
 COLOR OF METALS
• If the efficiency of absorption and reemission is
approximately equal at all optical energies, then the
different colors in white light will be reflected equally well,
leading to the “silvery” color of polished silver and iron
surfaces.
• In copper the efficiency of reflection decreases with
increasing energy; the reduced reflectivity at the blue end
of the spectrum results in a reddish color.
• Similar considerations explain the yellow color of gold and
brass.
 COLOR OF METALS
• Copper, silver, and gold—all members of the Group 12 (IB)
family—have similar electron configurations.
• The electron configuration of copper is [Ar]3d104s1, that of
silver is [Kr]4d105s1, and that of gold is [Xe]5d106s1.
• The electron configurations of these three metals are
exceptions to the Aufbau Principle, in which electrons fill
orbitals of the least energy first, thus showing [Ar]3d94s2
for copper, [Kr]4d95s2 for silver, and [Xe]5d96s2 for gold.
• In copper, the energy difference of the two subshells (d
and s) is only 2.7 eV. In gold, the difference in the energy of
the two subshells is only 1.9 eV. In silver, the difference is
greater with a value of 4.8 eV. (shielding effect explain
these energy differences)
This photon absorption results in d electrons jumping to s orbitals.

COLOR OF METALS
• When an object absorbs one color of light, its
complementary color is reflected back to our eyes.
• Since blue-green light is absorbed, its complementary
color, red-orange, is reflected, hence copper appears a red-
orange color.
• For gold less green light and a greater proportion of blue
light is absorbed than with copper, this results in the
reflection of the more orange-yellow complementary
color and, therefore, gold is a more yellow-colored metal.
• Most metals appear silver in color. Silver metals (such as
silver or aluminum) do not absorb much or any of the
visible light (absorb UV light).
 COLOR OF METALS
• As this excited electron attempts to return to the original,
lower energy state, it may often lose energy in a series of
smaller steps in the red-to-infrared part of the spectrum.
• This infrared energy is dissipated in the form of heat.
 COLOR OF METALS
Silver absorbs all, reflects in a similar fashion,
gold absorbs, but doesn't reflect in similar fashion.
 TRANSPARENCY IN METALS

• Metals are not transparent to x-rays and gammas.

• Most materials, including metals, attenuate x-rays and
gamma rays.
• That is, they reduce the number of rays that are able to
pass through them.
• The degree of attenuation depends on the properties of
the material as well as the energy of the rays.
• No metal is truly transparent to ionizing radiation.
COLOR OF PURE SEMICONDUCTORS
• If the substance has a large band gap, such as the 5.4 eV of
diamond, then no light in the visible spectrum can be
absorbed, and the substance appears colorless when pure.
• Such large band-gap semiconductors are excellent
insulators.
• The pigment cadmium yellow (cadmium sulfide, also
known as the mineral greenockite) has a smaller band gap
of 2.6 eV, which permits absorption of violet and some
blue but none of the other colors.
• This leads to its yellow color.
Band gap absorbs all to left of absorption edge, but the donor or acceptor level only absorbs at
specific wavelength and gives the complimentary color.

COLOR OF PURE SEMICONDUCTORS

• A somewhat smaller band gap that permits absorption of
violet, blue, and green produces the color orange.
• A yet smaller band gap as in the 2.0 eV of the pigment
vermilion (mercuric sulfide, the mineral cinnabar) results in
all energies but the red being absorbed, which leads to a
red color.
• All light is absorbed when the band-gap energy is less than
the 1.77-eV (700-nm) limit of the visible spectrum; narrow
band-gap semiconductors, such as the lead sulfide galena,
therefore absorb all light and are black.
• This sequence of colorless, yellow, orange, red, and black is
the precise range of colors available in pure
semiconductors.
COLOR OF DOPED SEMICONDUCTORS
• If an impurity atom, often called a dopant, is present in a
semiconductor (which is then designated as doped) and
has a different number of valence electrons than the atom
it replaces, extra energy levels can be formed within the
band gap.
• If the impurity has more electrons, such as a nitrogen
impurity (five valence electrons) in a diamond crystal
(consisting of carbons, each having four valence electrons),
a donor level is formed.
• Electrons from this level can be excited into the conduction
band by the absorption of photons; this occurs only at the
blue end of the spectrum in nitrogen-doped diamond,
resulting in a complementary yellow color.
COLOR OF DOPED SEMICONDUCTORS
• If the impurity has fewer electrons than the atom it
replaces, such as a boron impurity (three valence
electrons) in diamond, a hole level is formed.
• Photons can now be absorbed with the excitation of an
electron from the valence band into the hole level.
• In boron-doped diamond this occurs only at the yellow end
of the spectrum, resulting in a deep blue color as in the
famous Hope diamond.
 FLUORESCENCE
• Fluorescence occurs when light that is incident on a
specimen causes the emission of light of another color.
• This is most dramatic when the incident light is UV (and
the observer is in a darkened room), but it also occurs with
other wavelengths.
• Short wavelength UV is 254 nm; long wavelength UV is
300–388 nm (IR would be >780 nm).
• The wavelength of the emitted radiation is longer than that
of the illuminating light; this is known as Stokes’ law of
fluorescence.
 FLUORESCENCE
• The energy of the emitted light is therefore lower, with the
difference in energy causing heating in the sample.
• Phosphorescence: UV radiation excites electrons to a
higher energy state.
• When the UV is removed, the decay to the ground state
usually takes seconds but can take years.
• Flash is the initial color produced when a UV lamp is first
directed at certain fluorescent samples.
• The emitted wavelength then changes as exposure
continues.
 FLUORESCENCE ?????

• Thermoluminescence: This is essential fluorescence caused

by heating a mineral to allow electrons that are trapped in
high-energy states to drop back to the ground state.
• Cathodoluminescence: Instead of UV radiation, this
luminescence is produced by irradiating the sample with
electrons (and therefore it usually occurs in a vacuum).
FLUORESCENCE
COLOR OF DOPED SEMICONDUCTORS
• Some materials containing both donors and acceptors can
absorb ultraviolet or electrical energy to produce visible
light.
• Phosphor powders, such as zinc sulfide containing copper
and other impurities, are used as a coating in fluorescent
lamps to convert the plentiful ultraviolet energy produced
by the mercury arc into fluorescent light.
• Phosphors are also used to coat the inside of a television
screen, where they are activated by a stream of electrons
(cathode rays) in cathodoluminescence, and in luminous
paints, where they are activated by white light or by
ultraviolet radiation, which causes them to display a slow
luminous decay known as phosphorescence.