Correlation of blue-thermoluminescence (BTL) properties with some impurities in synthetic quartz

In growth zones of synthetic quartz samples, BTL (blue-thermoluminescence) intensities were found to gradually decrease with Al-impurity concentrations beyond 13 ppm, except for -X-X zones. This tendency suggests the relevance of other impurities, which were identified by infrared (IR) spectrometry. In the IR spectrum, +X+X zones indicated a negative relationship between BTL and Al–OH absorbance, whereas the -X-X zones showed extremely weak BTL and high Al–OH absorbance. On the basis of low-temperature measurements we suggest that hydrogen radicals and other radicals due to OH or water molecule impurities cause the elimination of BTL-centers and that the BTL sensitivity of quartz at environmental temperature is influenced not only by Al-impurities, but also by OH groups and other types of center.