1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
2. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Correspondence to: Carlos G. Camara^1,2Juan V. Escobar^1,2 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.C. (Email: camara@physics.ucla.edu) or J.E. (Email: escobar@physics.ucla.edu).

Abstract

Relative motion between two contacting surfaces can produce visible light, called triboluminescence¹. This concentration of diffuse mechanical energy into electromagnetic radiation has previously been observed to extend even to X-ray energies². Here we report that peeling common adhesive tape in a moderate vacuum produces radio and visible emission^{3, 4}, along with nanosecond, 100-mW X-ray pulses that are correlated with stick–slip peeling events. For the observed 15-keV peak in X-ray energy, various models^{5, 6} give a competing picture of the discharge process, with the length of the gap between the separating faces of the tape being 30 or 300 m at the moment of emission. The intensity of X-ray triboluminescence allowed us to use it as a source for X-ray imaging. The limits on energies and flash widths that can be achieved are beyond current theories of tribology.

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