Regulation of light emission from Ag cluster films under mechanical deformation of elastic substrates

Spectral distribution and integral intensity of the light emitted from Ag cluster films on a mylar and mica substrate were measured under the passage of electrical current. The effect of the substrate deformation at a fixed voltage on the conduction current and integral intensity of the emitted light was studied. The variation of the integral light emission was found to be an order of magnitude larger than that of the conduction current. This result is explained in terms of collective characteristic of film (conduction current) as opposed by individual contributions of emission centres (light emission).