The study of Ag(Cu) center creation in quartz crystals by thermal annealing at 1200C in oxygen atmosphere from metallic Ag and Au

TL;DR

This paper investigates how thermal annealing at 1200°C in oxygen affects the creation of silver and copper luminescence centers in quartz crystals, and explores gold incorporation but without success.

Contribution

It is the first study to examine the effects of high-temperature oxygen annealing on silver and gold centers in quartz, expanding understanding of impurity center formation.

Findings

Silver and copper luminescence centers can be created in quartz by annealing with metallic silver.

Gold incorporation into quartz under these conditions was unsuccessful.

Annealing conditions influence the formation of specific luminescence centers.

Abstract

The study of silver or copper center creation in quartz crystals by thermal annealing at 1200C in oxygen atmosphere from metallic silver and gold. Previously, the effect of treatment in oxygen atmosphere at high temperatures on copper luminescence centers in quartz was discovered. In this work, we investigated the effect of such treatment on silver centers in quartz, studied previously. Also, a series of non-activated crystalline quartz samples were thermally annealed at 1200C in an oxygen atmosphere together with metallic silver. An attempt was made to introduce gold into quartz by such treatment in oxygen. Both high-purity gold and containing parasitic impurities of silver and copper were used. In the latter case, we obtained silver and copper luminescence centers but were unable to identify the luminescence of centers associated with Au.