What chem reactn gives the highest rate of photons emssn/t ?

[Nick23]

I was trying to google it, but coudn't find any specific answer. Oxidation of Magnesium, for example, emits a lot of light. Is there a table of reactions by high much light they create ?

What chemical reaction emits the highest number of photons per unit per time ? Thank you.

 

[Quantum Defect]

I was trying to google it, but coudn't find any specific answer. Oxidation of Magnesium, for example, emits a lot of light. Is there a table of reactions by high much light they create ?

What chemical reaction emits the highest number of photons per unit per time ? Thank you.

There are all sorts of chemical reactions that emit photons. I believe that in things like magnesium combustion, the thermite reaction, etc. the light is coming from incandescence -- essentially really hot metals glowing. Some reactions emit light, kind of as a side product, when electronically excited molecules/atoms are produced -- flames are an example of this -- the blue flames of gas stoves coming from electronically excited C2 and CH molecules being produced in the mix. Hydrogen-oxygen flames don't give off much visible light, but produce a lot of UV light emission from electronically excited OH molecules emitting light. The chemical reaction in the abdomen of fireflies is another example of photons being produced in a chemical reaction.

Chemical lasers can emit a great deal of their stored chemical potential energy as photons. The HF laser produces infrared emission when hydrogen and fluorine gases react in a resonator cavity.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_fluoride_laser

The US Air Force is working on a chemical laser: COIL (Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser) which involves lasing on a transition in Iodine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_oxygen_iodine_laser