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Point defects in topaz crystals

Journal Article · · Appl. Phys. Commun.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6224431
Topaz is a wide band gap insulating silicate crystal with four Al/sub 2/F/sub 2/SiO/sub 4/ formula units per orthorhombic unit cell, and isolated SiO/sub 4/ tetrahedra. They have used ESR, polarized optical absorption, and isochronal annealing to study the point defects introduced into the lattice by radiation damage. Following irradiation, the ESR spectrum is dominated by a single hole-like center with spin 1/2 and principle g values g/sub zz/ = 2.045, g/sub xx/ = 1.995, g/sub yy/ = 2.004. The crystallographic orientation of the major axis of the g tensor is (a/sup ..-->../,b/sup ..-->../,c/sup ..-->../) = (.46, .16, .874). They identify this defect as an interstitial oxygen atom in the form of a peroxy radical; = Si - 0 - 0. The irradiation also produces an optical absorption band at 2 eV that displays a striking crystallographic anisotropy. The defect responsible for this band is unrelated to the peroxy, and appears to be diamagnetic. A tentative model is a doubly occupied dangling silicon bond. They will argue that this identification is likely to hold as well for the technologically important 2eV optical absorption band found in drawn glass fibers.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
OSTI ID:
6224431
Journal Information:
Appl. Phys. Commun.; (United States), Journal Name: Appl. Phys. Commun.; (United States) Vol. 7:1-2; ISSN APCOD
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English