激发是在任意能级上能量的提升。在物理学中有对于这种能级有专门定义：往往与一个原子被激发至激发态有关。

在量子力学中，一个系统（例如一个原子，分子或原子核）的激发态是该系统中任意一个比基态具有更高能量的量子态（也就是说它具有比系统所能具有的最低能量要高的能量）。

一般来说，处于激发态的系统都是不稳定的，只能维持很短的时间：一个量子（例如一个光子或是一个声子）在发生自发辐射或受激辐射后，只在能量被提升的瞬间存在，随即返回具有较低能量的状态（一个较低的激发态或基态）。这种能量上的衰减一般被称为“衰变”（decay），它是“激发”的逆过程。

In quantum mechanics, an excited state of a system (such as an atom, molecule or nucleus) is any quantum state of the system that has a higher energy than the ground state (that is, more energy than the absolute minimum). Excitation is an elevation in energy level above an arbitrary baseline energy state. In physics there is a specific technical definition for energy level which is often associated with an atom being raised to an excited state. The temperature of a group of particles is indicative of the level of excitation (with the notable exception of systems that exhibit negative temperature).