Spectroscopic Measurement of Faint Light Produced by Rapid Separation of an Adhesive Tape

Abstract

This paper describes results on an experimental study of faint light emission produced by separation of an adhesive tape from a glass or from a polymer film. Spectroscopic measurements of the faint light were carried out using a monochromator and a photomultiplier. The results indicated that the light emission was caused by discharges near the tape-air-glass triple junction. We found that the frequency of the light emission was strongly changed by changing the peeling speed of the tape. Discharge lights were detected in many times in the case of high-speed peeling, whereas no light was detected in the case of low-speed peeling. We also measured surface potential distributions on the film after separation from the tape using a XY-movable probe and an electrostatic voltmeter. The surface potential on the film after the fast-speed peeling became slightly higher than that on the film after the low-speed peeling.