On the detection of acoustic and electromagnetic signals before fracture of dielectric crystalline materials

The acoustic and electromagnetic emission detected during the uniaxial compression and before the catastrophic failure of dielectric crystalline materials is investigated in this letter. In particular, an appropriate experimental and measuring setup has been developed and used to simultaneously detect and monitor in both large and small scale the time series of acoustic and electromagnetic pulses emitted during deformation of a compressed LiF crystal sample, allowing a plausible mechanism of their origin to be suggested.