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exciton

American

[ik-sahy-ton, ek-si-ton] / ɪkˈsaɪ tɒn, ˈɛk sɪˌtɒn /

noun

Physics.

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

exciton British

/ ˈɛksaɪˌtɒn /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of exciton

1935–40; excit(ed) or excit(ation) + -on ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

With SF, this single exciton can split into two lower-energy spin-triplet excitons, which could effectively double the available energy.

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

"One is to convert lower-energy infrared photons into higher energy visible photons. The other, what we explore here, is to use SF to generate two excitons from a single exciton photon."

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

Jauregui explained that this sudden change indicated the system had shifted into the exotic exciton state.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2025

In search of the perfect interface, they found a surprise: that an imperfect interface might be better for exciton transfer.

From Science Daily • Feb. 27, 2024

In their study, the researchers set themselves the challenge of investigating the hole of the exciton.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023