PHOTON-EMISSION AT METAL SOLUTION INTERFACE INDUCED BY ELECTRON INJECTION FROM SOLVATED ELECTRONS

Light emission from metal, induced by electron injection from solvated electrons, was observe in an electrochemical system. The efficiency of emitted light increases drastically as electrode potential becomes positive. The high energy threshold of the spectrum increases as the electrode potential becomes positive by 1 eV/V. The peak energy also shifts positively as the electrode potential becomes positive, although the degree of the shift is much smaller. Various processes are considered as a possible mechanism for a photon emission. From the qualitative comparison of the results at platinum and gold electrode, the contribution of the inverse photoemission process to the bulk band states at the light emission process in the electrochemical system is suggested. The feasibility of applying this phenomenon to a novel spectroscopy is discussed.