UV light excited by the ferroelectric electron emission in N2 gas

Summary form only given, as follows. The fast electrons are emitted from the surface of ferroelectric materials by rapid switching of the spontaneous polarization. The lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramics of 190 mm thickness were covered with evaporated gold electrode, solid on one side and striped on the opposite side. The electrodes were detected by the grounded collector. The current density was 0.8A/cm² by applying 300 V-2 μsec pulse voltage in vacuum. The electron energy was estimated by applying a decelerating potential to a collector. This energy is of the order of a few 10 eV in vacuum condition, and is enough to excite the nitrogen gas. In one Torr nitrogen gas, we switched the polarization of PZT and observed the pulsed emission of second positive band (337 nm) of nitrogen