reexcite

Reexcite is a verb meaning to excite again or to bring something back into an excited state after it has returned to a lower energy level. It can be written as reexcite or re-excite in some texts. The term is formed from the prefix re- meaning again and the verb excite. As a specialized term, it is most commonly found in scientific writing, but it can also describe renewed emotional or practical excitement in everyday language.

In physics and chemistry, reexcitation refers to promoting a system from a relaxed or ground state to an excited state again, usually via an external stimulus such as a photon, electron, or pump pulse. It is central to studies of atomic, molecular, and solid-state populations, fluorescence, and luminescence dynamics, where reexcitation can alter emission yields or relaxations. In spectroscopy, controlled reexcitation with a second light pulse is used to probe excited-state lifetimes or to drive nonlinear processes such as upconversion.

In neuroscience and bioengineering, reexcitation can describe renewed activity in cells or neural networks after a prior stimulus, though the precise terminology varies and expressions like re-stimulation or reactivation are more common. In engineering contexts, practitioners may speak of reexcitation of vibrations or oscillatory systems after damping, when an external input restores motion or energy to a system.

Related terms include re-excitation (noun), repumping in atomic physics, and reactivation. See also concepts like excitation, relaxation, and stimulated emission for context.