Epitaxy and cathodoluminescence in α-quartz after Ge, Ba and Rb ion implantation

Ion implantation used for doping quartz with photoactive impurity atoms amorphizes the matrix already at moderate fluences. Following our recent studies on dynamic, laser-induced or chemical epitaxy of ion-irradiated α-quartz, this paper focuses on the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra obtained after Ge, Ba, Rb and double Rb/Ge ion implantation, under the conditions of dynamic or chemical epitaxy. In addition to “intrinsic” subbands in the CL-spectra, several blue and violet bands correlated with the particular implanted ion species were observed. In the case of Ba, nearly complete dynamic epitaxial growth was achieved, but not for Ge. In the case of Rb, full chemical epitaxy was obtained upon annealing in oxygen or air, but the CL output decreased above 1000 K due to Rb outdiffusion. Double Rb/Ge implantation and annealing in air appears as a very promising novel route to achieve high CL light output and full recrystallization.