Time resolved luminescence spectroscopy of wide bandgap insulators

This is a review of the recent activity of a collaboration on the basis of an INTAS grant 'The luminescence process - a study of the excitation and radiation dynamics of materials using synchrotron radiation'. For the following crystals (CeF3, LaF3:Ce, PWO, LSO:Ce, CsI, RbI, KI, CsF, CsCl, BaF2, CsPbCl3, etc.) in the UV, VUV, XUV, and X-ray regions the sequential steps of the energy conversion of a high-energy photon into a luminescence quantum have been studied: (i) absorption; (ii) multiplication of electronic excitations; (iii) migration in the process of thermalisation; (iv) emission center excitation.