Neonion

Neonion is a fictional crystalline allotrope of neon, introduced in speculative chemistry and science fiction to explore how inert gas atoms might behave when confined in solid lattices. The term fuses neon with the -ion suffix to emphasize its lattice-bound, quasi-stable character in imagined contexts.

In many imagined descriptions, neonion is colorless and chemically inert, yet when excited by ultraviolet light or electron bombardment it emits a distinctive luminescent spectrum that can span blue to green wavelengths. The solid is described as optically transparent and capable of satisfying unusual thermal properties in a cryogenic range.

Synthesis is typically described through proposals such as ion implantation of neon into heavy-metal hosts under cryogenic temperatures, or co-condensation of neon with a crystalline lattice in ultra-high vacuum followed by pressure quenching to trap neon in interstitial sites. The metastable state is said to be stabilized by lattice strain and confinement.

Occurrence is not understood to occur in nature; production remains within laboratory simulations or fictional planetary environments where extreme pressures or exotic materials enable neon atoms to be captured in solids.

Potential applications in speculative technology include low-temperature luminescent panels, radiation detectors, and quantum information storage, using neon atoms as qubits within a solid-state host.

See also: inert gas solids, luminescence, speculative chemistry.