Piezoluminescence

Piezoluminescence is a form of luminescence created by pressure upon certain solids. This phenomenon is characterized by recombination processes involving electrons, holes and impurity ion centres.^[1] Some piezoelectric crystals give off a certain amount of piezoluminescence when under pressure. Irradiated salts, such as NaCl, KCl, KBr and polycrystalline chips of LiF (TLD-100), have been found to exhibit piezoluminescent properties.^[2] It has also been discovered that ferroelectric polymers exhibit piezoluminescence upon the application of stress.^[3]

In the folk-literature surrounding psychedelic production, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and LSD have been reported to exhibit piezoluminescence. As specifically noted in the book Acid Dreams, it is stated that Augustus Owsley Stanley III, one of the most prolific producers of LSD in the 1960s, observed piezoluminescence in the compound's purest form,^[4] an observation confirmed by Alexander Shulgin: "A totally pure salt, when dry and when shaken in the dark, will emit small flashes of white light."^[5]

See also

• Mechanoluminescence
• Triboluminescence

References

1. Atari, N.A. (June 1982). "Piezoluminescence phenomenon". Physics Letters A. 90 (1–2): 93–96. Bibcode:1982PhLA...90...93A. doi:10.1016/0375-9601(82)90060-3.
2. On Piezoluminescence in Irradiated Alkali Halides, by A. Al-Hashimi, A.M. Eid, K.V. Ettinger and J.R. Mallard, Radiation Protection Dosimetry (1983) 6 (1–4): 203–205.
3. Reynolds, George (1997). Piezoluminescence from a ferroelectric polymer and quartz. Journal of Luminescence (Princeton) 75 (4): 295–299.
4. Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, pg 174
5. TiHKAL. Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin. http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal26.shtml