Abstract
Triboluminescence has been investigated by many researchers due to its many applications in various fields related to industry and life. However, the triboluminescence mechanism is still unclear. The triboluminescence mechanisms are further investigated here by experimentally studying the triboluminescence properties of SiO2 crystals with various crystal orientations. The experimental results show that the crystal orientation significantly affects the triboluminescence. Measurements of the triboluminescence spectra showed that the triboluminescence comes from the gas discharge caused by triboelectrification. The different triboluminescence intensities in different crystal orientations are then shown to be based on the differences in the work functions for different orientations.