Domain electroluminescence in ac thin-film devices

The ac thin-film electroluminescence devices employing ZnS : Mn as the active medium exhibit a "memory effect" which in turn is related to filamentary luminescence. Under certain film preparation and device excitation conditions, it is found that the filaments exhibit a large scale cooperative motion. Spontaneously moving spirals and stripes have been observed under steady-state conditions. This paper describes the phenomena, and a thermal model for the observations is proposed.