On the solid state of bone

Photovoltaic effect (infrared and visible light) is observed in bone and its two major components, collagen and apatite, at room temperature. A dimunition in the magnitude of photovoltage is observed after exposure to ultraviolet light in all the cases. The drift mobility of the charge carriers is obtained by measuring I versus V relationships in sandwich samples and relating them to the permitivity of the medium. Lifetime of the injected carriers is measured in the usual way. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the effects are due to protonic conduction phenomena.