The Scintillator reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Scintillator

A scintillator is a device or substance that absorbs an electromagnetic wave of one wavelength and emits an electromagnetic wave of a different wavelength.

Common-life examples include

• the milky-white internal coating in neon lighting tubes, which converts the ultraviolet light emitted by the neon plasma to visible light
• the yellowish white coating on the chip in a "white" light emitting diode (LED). This converts part of the visible blue light emitted by the LED chip to visible yellow light. The blue and yellow light together create the subjective impression of white light.

Scintillators are used in many physics research applications to detect electromagnetic waves or particles. There, a scintillator converts their wavelength (or energy - which is basically the same due to the wave-particle duality principle) to a wavelength which can be detected by inexpensive or easy to handle detectors.

In principle, Scintillators can have any aggregate state: gaseous, liquid or solid state. Most scintillators for practical use will come in solid state form.

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