The efficiency of formation of primary radiation defects in LiF and MgF2 crystals

Processes of radiation formation of primary defects—F centers and self-trapped excitons—in lithium and magnesium fluorides, which have crystal lattices of different types and similar widths of the band gap and valence band, have been studied in a wide temperature range (11–500 K). It is shown that, along with qualitative similarity of the regularities of formation of the defects under study, LiF and MgF₂ crystals are characterized at low temperatures (11–100 K) by different relationships between the energy dissipation channels for self-trapping electronic excitations and the types of self-trapped excitons arising.