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Re: phosphors

>WOW, this is a subject I would like to hear more about! Not Halo Blue, per
>se, but the subject of phosphors. Seems we have an expert in our midst, in
>Dirk. Please give me more background, and I like it technical. Are there any
>ways to learn more about the physics of phosphors? Can you give us some
>recipes for coating phosphors, perhaps using the adhesive method recently
>discussed by Tecnolux and others? Do you, in fact, have a catalog of phosphor
>compounds? Are there any unusual colors not available in pre-manufactured
>form we could get with some of the more exotic ones? Like to hear much more
>about compositions and how they work. F-Centers and all that. Are there any
>reference books on this subject for someone that can understand them and
>appreciate it?
>Jeff Golin

I wouldn't jump on the coat-it-yourself wagon yet.

At one time I became very interested in phosphors, and did some research.
Call sylvania (OSRAM) and GE.  Both manufacture phosphors, and have data
sheets on their products.  GE has particularly extensive literature
available.  Ask them for their Product Data Sheet series # 7750.  Number is
216-266-2451.  The number of phosphors available is mind-boggling.  The
neon industry uses only a few of the many types manufactured.  There are
custom blends (6500, hi-CRI daylight, tri-phosphor) as well as special
phosphors for exotic flat-panel computer displays.  There are even
infra-red-activated phosphors.

They may send you a sample, but their lively hood is NOT sending out 1/4
pound bottles of phosphor to neon shops for experimentation.  I belive
Sylvania told me their minimum order was 2,000.

A great book that will tell you every thing you possibly want to know about
phosphors, coating adhesion, spectra, gases, etc, etc. is:

   The chemistry of artificial lighting devices : lamps, phosphors, and
    cathode ray tubes. / Ropp, R. C. / Amsterdam 1993

I concluded that coating your own was not worth the trouble.  Both the
book, and GE/Sylvania literature say the best way to coat is to apply with
a binder, then bake at annealing temperture until the binder disintegrates.
Good coating appears to be an art as well as a science.  I have tried some
of Voltarc's "No Bake," and it certainly confirms this to me!

(Dirk, perhaps you could elaborate on your binder.  Don't you guys first
coat the tube with some sticky stuff like camphor?)

Perhaps Dirk (who coats his own) and Dave Ablon (who coats commercial
tubing, and is out of the country at the moment) can add fuel to this fire.

   -John Anderson
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