ARO-ERO Phosphors for Marking, Coding and Information Storage
Abstract
The objective of this preliminary study was to identify simple methods to improve marking and coding of soldiers to reduce the number of fratricide incidents among American and allied casualties. Previous studies showed that the use of powder phosphors had the potential to meet some of these marking and coding requirements, especially in conditions of low light and poor visibility. The use of phosphors is widespread in modern technologies; they can be mass-produced and are widely available, and no expensive equipment or control is needed to lay down large uniform layers of material. The recent availability of near-ultraviolet light emitting diodes in addition to infrared emitting systems has made the remote excitation of phosphors a practical possibility. The authors investigated the development of photoluminescent phosphors that could convert specific energies to specified infrared signals (e.g., visible to infrared, ultraviolet to infrared, infrared to infrared (Stokes), and infrared to visible (anti-Stokes). The authors were directed to using night vision sight (NVS) in the project. The use of NVS indicated that detection of a friendly signature would have to be observed in the infrared region to eliminate visible detection by the enemy. The suppression of visible emissions discounted the use of storage phosphors (infrared to visible) and anti-Stokes (infrared to visible). A long wave pass filter (LWPF) was used to eliminate the "bloom" of NVS by blocking optical and near-infrared wavelengths below 900 nm. An assessment of possible phosphors showed that ZnCdS had the best infrared properties. Since enemy NVS devices could detect this phosphor's emission peak at 750 nm, the Zn and Cd ratios were adjusted so that only 900 nm wavelengths could be observed. To achieve this the ZnCdS phosphor was tested with various activators and co-activators, including copper, manganese, silver, gold, indium, and gallium. These test results are reported here. (2 tables, 3 figur7
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA420359
Entities
People
- A. Vecht
- G. R. Fern
- J. Silver
- R. Withnall
Organizations
- University of Greenwich