Investigation of OSL signals from very deep traps in unfired and fired quartz samples

Abstract

This paper presents an attempt to isolate experimentally optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals which may originate from very deep traps (VDT) in quartz samples. As VDT we consider those traps which are responsible for TL glow peaks with a peak maximum temperature above a TL readout temperature of 500 C. The basic experimental procedure used to isolate OSL signals from VDT is heating the quartz samples to 500 C immediately before measuring the OSL signal. The study was carried out on eight quartz samples of very different origins; it is found that all eight samples exhibit OSL signals from VDT, and for a wide region of OSL stimulation temperatures. The OSL signal from VDT depends strongly on the type of quartz sample studied and on whether the sample was fired at high temperatures or not. The behavior of the OSL signal from VDT as a function of the stimulation temperature is found to be very different in fired and unfired samples. The thermal activation energy E for the OSL signals from VDT is obtained in both fired and unfired samples. The OSL signal from VDT in quartz samples fired at 800 C for 1 h is very high, and the OSL curves consist of three well-defined components and a fourth slow component which is rather poorly resolved. The dose response of these components is obtained using a computerized deconvolution procedure for the dose region 0.5-300 Gy. The results are of importance for dating of ancient fired ceramics, since OSL signals from VDT could potentially extend appreciably the equivalent dose region toward both lower and higher values.