Luminescence of non-bridging oxygen hole centers as a marker of particle irradiation of α-quartz

Abstract

of non-bridging oxygen hole centers as a marker of particle irradiation of α-quartz, Radiation Measurements. 135 (2020) 106373.

Unusual Luminescence of Quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany: Insights on the Crystal and Defect Nanostructure of Quartz Further Developments

“…With this information, we propose that only this very specific component that we previously observed in Q_LS with RL, and as phosphorescence in this work, is to be assigned to NBOHCs. Its properties are compatible with the works from Skuja et al [14,20,21]: emission wavelength and increased sensitivity with irradiation.…”

“…Another point in favor of excluding NBOHCs from all the emission observed in PL and LIF experiments is shown in Figure 2. The fact that the emission intensity is apparently decreasing with irradiation seems to contradict the works of Skuja et al [20,21], where clearly the behavior of NBOHCs is the opposite: irradiation should increase the number of these centers. Unfortunately, with our equipment, we are not able to explore the same dose ranges studied by Skuja et al in reasonable time (above the MGy, even GGy), and as already stated, the quantitative part of the results should be taken with a grain of salt, but they seem to point to a relevant fact, nonetheless.…”

“…This sensitization process can have an impact in applications where quartz is used as a natural dosimeter [12]. Following our tentative assignment of part of the emission from this sample to NBOHCs and the works from Skuja [20,21], we also tried to observe the influence of X-ray irradiation on its photoluminescence (PL) properties, which are based on the same principles of the previous LIF experiment. Using PL, which also served as a reproducibility proof of the LIF data, we obtained additional information regarding the excitation spectrum of the observed emission, which we could not study with LIF.…”

Unusual Luminescence of Quartz from La Sassa, Tuscany: Insights on the Crystal and Defect Nanostructure of Quartz

“…The emission at 547 nm is usually associated with self-trapped exciton (STE) from amorphous SiO2 outgrowth [38,39], but it should be noted that usually at room temperature this kind of emission is quenched, although sometimes it has been observed [62]. The emission at 600 nm is usually assigned to the recombination of electrons in the nonbridging oxygen hole centre (NBOHC) with hydrogen or sodium impurities as precursors [31,63]. The concentration of Al may be an indirect cause of the emission in the red region, by favouring the formation of NBOHCs [30].…”

A Novel Proxy for Tracking the Provenance of Dust Based on Paired E1’‐Peroxy Paramagnetic Defect Centers in Fine‐Grained Quartz

“…Here, we investigate a simplified new provenance method based solely on the analysis of two naturally occurring paramagnetic defect centers in quartz, the E 1 ’ and peroxy centers, using ESR. The E 1 ’, as previously mentioned, refers to a center with an unpaired electron in an oxygen vacancy, while the peroxy center, in general, refers to a combination of the peroxy radical ( ≡Si‐O‐O ·, POR) and non‐bridging oxygen hole center ( ≡Si–O ⋅, NBOHC) (Griscom & Friebele, 1981; Stapelbroek et al., 1979, and from recent observations by Salh, 2011; Skuja et al., 2020). We explore the use of E 1 ’ and peroxy centers as a provenance indicator of quartz based on the empirical observations by Odom and Rink (1989), which show that both these centers increase with the age of granitic host rocks.…”