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Luminescent emission in the form of phosphorescence commonly occurs in daily life as a result of a quantum mechanically small transition probability. A luminescent emission lifetime can last from microseconds to several hours. Popularly known for its use in glow-in-the-dark products and as emergency sign illuminants in public buildings, it is also a practical method for information storage, including stamp detection and verification. While easy and cost-effective fabrication methods presently exist to engineer phosphorescence systems using organic emitters, achieving visible organic phosphorescence under ambient conditions in lab for industrial translation is challenging.
In a recent study, now published in Science Advances, Max Gmelch and colleagues at the Dresden University of Technology report a new milestone in organic luminescent labeling. For this, they used a simple device structure made from commonly available materials to generate ultrathin, flexible and transparent luminescent coatings. The resulting labeling device was fast, with ability to print more than 40 cycles of information onto any substrate of any size, at high resolution. The scientists used light alone, without any ink, to print a luminescent message onto the material. The contactless process could also erase the image from the same material. The concept represents a promising method to produce luminescent on-demand tags to store information and supersede conventional labeling techniques.
Could be a fun addition to flash mobs.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday February 07 2019, @05:57AM (1 child)
How long do these ones stay lit? What provides the energy that is emitted as light? How do they recharge?
I rtfa'd and from I can tell it's all about whether oxygen molecules in the sheet absorb the light or let it escape, but didn't see anything about the other stuff.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:31PM
I'd assume the answer is those are 'issues' otherwise they'd tout the performance.
If you can easily print the material in patterns, maybe it could compete with UV ink as a hidden label revealed by UV.
It might be a fun night club light show though if it performs well enough. Take a laser light show system, modify it with a UV and maybe IR laser and in a high ceiling room coat a wall high up with the stuff. Then you could paint semi-persistent images with the UV laser. If the stuff is clear / can be on a dark background so it's black(ish) when not energized it might have enough contrast to look neat, which would be enough if it's not too expensive.