Spectral study on feldspar thermoluminescence process

Feldspar thermoluminescence fading phenomena were investigated here by using newly-constructed thermoluminescence spectrometer on the basis of charge-coupled detector, and thereafter the discussion and explanation on feldspar TL fading mechanism were presented. The experimental results show that the fading rate of feldspar TL depends on both wavelength and stimulated temperature, and normally the feldspar TL in every region of wavelength and temperature shows different traits, namely the low temperature TL (170°–190°) fading at the rate of logarithmic function and furthermore the TL of different wavelengths fading at approximately the same rate on the condition of 160° preheating. While the medium and high temperature TLs (290°–400°) do not show much thermal fading, their fading rate at room temperature invariably correlates well with their wavelength, namely the longer TL wavelength, the slower TL fading rate. The thermal instability of traps and the quantum-mechanical tunneling effects can explain the above fading phenomena respectively. It is recognized that feldspar TL fading depends on its wavelength, and furthermore new aspects of the solid thermoluminescence process can be displayed by the combination of three-dimensional TL spectral analysis and thermal fading or anomalous fading of TL for feldspar. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40534019) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. GIGCX3-07-10)