Beta-induced fluorescence spectra of some aromatic systems

A photon-counting spectrometer has been used to record the fluorescence spectra of a number of aromatic solvents and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons excited by the passage of beta particles from a promethium-147 source. It is found that excimer emissions from the single-ring solvents are much less prominent than those reported previously using accelerated electron bombardment. The fluorescence spectra of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are found to differ from conventional fluorescence spectra in those cases where the compound's molar extinction coefficient is high at an emission wavelength. It is suggested that beta-induced fluorescence is less susceptible to self-absorption errors than conventional fluorescence spectrometry.