Spodumene and garnet luminescence excited by subnanosecond electron beams

Abstract

Pulsed cathodoluminescence of spodumene and yttrium-aluminum garnet crystals activated by Mn2+ and Nd3+ ions, respectively, is investigated. The luminescence was excited upon crystal irradiation by electron beams with current densities of 35 and 100 A/cm2 and average electron energy of ∼ 50 keV for 0.1, 0.25, and 0.65 ns. It is demonstrated that the electron beam duration decreased to several tenth of a nanosecond does not lead to essential changes of the mechanisms of pulsed cathodoluminescence excitation and character of its spectrum, but in this case, the intensity of luminescence of the hole centers increases compared with the intracenter luminescence.