exciton

[ ik-sahy-ton, ek-si-ton ]

/ ɪkˈsaɪ tɒn, ˈɛk sɪˌtɒn /

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noun Physics.

a localized, mobile excited state of a crystal, consisting of an electron and a hole bound together.

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Origin of exciton

1935–40; excit(ed) or excit(ation) + -on¹

Words nearby exciton

exciter, exciter lamp, exciting, excito-, excitomotor, exciton, excitonics, excitor, excl., exclaim, exclam.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use exciton in a sentence

The photon bounces back and forth between the mirrors roughly a million times before it escapes, and as it bounces the photon blends with the exciton to form a polariton.
The Near-Magical Mystery of Quasiparticles|Thomas Lewton|March 24, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Many photons and excitons are caged and combined in this way, and these polaritons behave en masse like liquid light, which is frictionless and doesn’t scatter.
The Near-Magical Mystery of Quasiparticles|Thomas Lewton|March 24, 2021|Quanta Magazine
At low densities and high temperatures, excitons zip around very much like atoms in a gas.
The Joy of Condensed Matter - Issue 97: Wonder|John C. Baez|February 24, 2021|Nautilus
By now we can make excitons in large quantities in certain semiconductors and other materials.
The Joy of Condensed Matter - Issue 97: Wonder|John C. Baez|February 24, 2021|Nautilus

An exciton can even stick to a photon—a particle of light—and form something called a “polariton.”
The Joy of Condensed Matter - Issue 97: Wonder|John C. Baez|February 24, 2021|Nautilus

British Dictionary definitions for exciton

exciton

/ (ˈɛksaɪˌtɒn) /

noun

a mobile neutral entity in a crystalline solid consisting of an excited electron bound to the hole produced by its excitation

Word Origin for exciton

C20: from excit (ation) + -on

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012