excimer

[ ek-suh-mer ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a molecular complex of two, usually identical, molecules that is stable only when one of them is in an excited state.

excimer

/ ˈɛkˌsaɪmə /

noun

1. physics an excited dimer formed by the association of excited and unexcited molecules, which would remain dissociated in the ground state

Word History and Origins

Origin of excimer¹

First recorded in 1960–65; exci(ted) + (di)mer

Example Sentences

The devices that make use of the new UV wavelengths, called KrCl excimer lamps, are still relatively rare and expensive.

From Science Daily

There we tested numerous lights across the UV spectrum, including UV LEDs that emit light at 270 and 282 nanometers, traditional UV tube lamps at 254 nanometers and a newer technology called an excited dimer, or excimer, UV source at 222 nanometers.

From Salon

In a health-care setting, rooms and tools can be sanitized in seconds, because they’re operating at high strength and are powered by mercury, excimer, pulsed xenon lamps or LED lights.

From Seattle Times

As a journalist I toured factories where they R&D’d all sorts of exotic new weapons — nuclear explosions to send out X-rays, chemical lasers, “excimer” lasers, particle beams, railguns, and “intelligent projectiles” that some wiseguy dubbed, in a stroke of marketing genius, “smart rocks.”

From Salon

Notably, in 1970, the Russian physicist Nikolay Basov and collaborators developed excimer lasers that would later be used to etch tiny circuit patterns on the silicon wafers from which chips are made.

From Nature