X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL)

Definition

X-ray excited optical luminescence is an X-ray photon in/optical photon out technique. It concerns the conversion of the X-ray energy absorbed by the system to optical photons often involving multi-step cascade processes. XEOL is often used together with XANES/NEXAFS to provide site specificity which in turn can help reveal the electronic structure and optical properties of the system of interest.

XEOL can be studied in the time domain if a pulsed X-ray source is used. It is possible to use the time structure of a synchrotron radiation source to study the decay dynamics of a system via various optical de-excitation pathways. This technique is called time-resolved X-ray excited optical luminescence.

See also

• Secondary process detection
• XANES/NEXAFS