title: An efficient ionoluminescence analysis of turquoise gemstone as a weakly luminescent mineral.
abstract: The unique ionization pattern of MeV-energy ion beam is applied for efficient luminescence analysis of a collection of natural turquoise samples. The considerable penetration depth of tens of micrometer and enhancement of energy deposition with depth, suggests ionoluminescence as an appropriate technique for studying weakly luminescent minerals. Herein, the luminescence induced in deeper parts of turquoise samples is extracted through their relatively transparent adjacent host stones. The resulting intense spectra reveal the vibrational structure of the broad green luminescence band of turquoise which probably originates from O2-centers. Moreover, owing to the applied ionoluminescence approach, red and blue luminescence bands of turquoise were observed which can be ascribed to Fe3+ions and UO22+centers respectively. The elemental information of the samples is provided using micro-PIXE analysis technique.
authors.affiliation: Physics & Accelerators Research School, NSTRI, PO Box 14395-836, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: tnikbakht@aeoi.org.ir.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nikbakht
authors.affiliation: Physics & Accelerators Research School, NSTRI, PO Box 14395-836, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kakuee
authors.affiliation: Physics & Accelerators Research School, NSTRI, PO Box 14395-836, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lamehi-Rachti
keywords: Ion beam ionization; Ionoluminescence spectroscopy; Micro-PIXE; Turquoise gemstone