Study of the structural characteristics of a group of natural silicates by means of their Kβ emission spectra

The energies, intensities and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the lines that conform the silicon and aluminium Kβ spectra were quantified. It was observed that an increase in the number of oxygen ions shared by the tetrahedra (SiO4)4− caused a lineal increase in the FWHM of the Si Kβ1,3 and Al Kβ1,3 lines. This behavior is caused by the increase of the covalent character of the Si-O and Al-O bonds with the quantity of oxygen ions shared by the adjacent tetrahedra.