Estimating the parameters of traps in quartz by the variable energy of stimulation optically stimulated luminescence (VES-OSL) method

• Results of OSL measurements with the continuous decrease of stimulation light wavelength.
• Estimating the optical depths of traps in quartz.
• Comparison of VES-OSL curves for naturally and laboratory excited quartz samples.

Optical-cross section that is a trap parameter estimated from the measurements of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is not a uniquely determined physical quantity. It depends not only on temperature and the energy of stimulation light but also, in the simplest case, on the optical depth of trap, the frequency of vibration mode and on the Huang-Rhys factor, i.e. the average number of phonons involved in the process of optical excitation of electrons from trap to conduction band. Conventional OSL measurement techniques do not enable to determine directly these parameters but they could be estimated by applying the variable energy of stimulation optically stimulated luminescence (VES-OSL) method. Recently it was put in to practice and the first VES-OSL curves were presented. In this study the outcomes of VES-OSL experiments are presented together with the first attempt of direct estimating the optical depth of traps active in OSL process in quartz.