Cathodo-luminescence spectra of alkali halides

Cathodo-luminescence spectra of fourteen alkali halides and of some mixed crystals of NaCl and KCl have been studied. The spectra show broad structureless bands. In some ten halides it is possible to find a strong band whose peak position shifts towards longer wavelengths as the inter-atomic distance increases. For pottasium halides the relationship λ_max=1380d, where “d” is the inter-atomic distance, holds approximately but is not generally true. A mechanism of cathodo-luminescence in alkali halides has been postulated, and an interpretation of the above band and of some NaCl bands has been made on that basis.