Differentiation between sources of mechanoluminescence and acoustic emission in impact-loaded ZnSe and ZnS ceramics

Ductile semiconductor ceramics ZnSe and ZnS were damaged by a falling weight, and the time series of mechanoluminescence (ML) and acoustic emission (AE) pulses were recorded with the nanosecond resolution. The ML lighting appeared in the instance of shock but the AE generation emerged with a delay of 50-100 μsec; however, the maxima of the light and sound emissions coincided in time. This difference in temporal profiles was explained by the difference in prevailing sources of emissions of two types. The detected luminescence in A₂ B₆ compounds was excited, mainly, by moving and multiplying dislocations, while the sound was generated by nucleating and growing cracks. The statistical analysis showed that at the stage of pre-failure deformation, the ensemble of dislocations exhibited a trend to self-organizing; the cracking was fully random. The effect of intergranular boundaries on the dislocation motion manifested itself in the statistics of mechanoluminescence generation.