post-IR IRSL Signals Research Articles

Further investigations on ‘non-fading’ in K-Feldspar

We give a theoretical overview of non-fading infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals in feldspars, followed by intercomparison of potential methods on some sediment extracts. We observe that a more stringent thermal wash on its own is not effective in obtaining a more stable signal, suggesting that the higher the stimulation temperature in post IR-IRSL methods, the greater the ability to access distant electron hole pairs. We further find that the delayed off-time signal in time-resolved IRSL has immense potential for sampling non-fading signal and should be explored further; this signal also appears to be well reset in nature and avoids unwanted thermal transfer effects in comparison to the post IR-IRSL signal measured at 290 °C.

Photon transferred TL signals from potassium feldspars and their effects on post-IR IRSL measurements

A recent flourish of studies using post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (post-IR IRSL) signals for retrospective dose determinations necessitates the investigation of photon transferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) signals induced by IR stimulation for potassium feldspars (K-feldspars). In this study, we investigated characteristics of PTTL signals and their effects on post-IR IRSL measurements for K-feldspars extracted from two bedrock samples. The temperature corresponding to maximum PTTL intensity (Tpeak) and the highest temperature at which PTTL signals are observed (Tmax) increase with the preheat temperature before IR stimulation, although no further increment of Tpeak is observed when preheat is higher than 320°C. The interference of the PTTL signal with the post-IR IRSL signal is non-monotonically dependent upon the temperature of the latter. The PTTL signals lead to an underestimation of the thermal stability of multiple-elevated-temperature (MET)-post-IR IRSL290 signals and may contribute to poor dose recovery ratios (DRR) using post-IR IRSL290 signals. The DRR values are substantially improved when the temperatures of preheat and post-IR IR stimulation are elevated to suppress the interference of the PTTL signal. This study highlights the importance of a careful inspection on PTTL signals before measuring the post-IR IRSL signals for K-feldspars.

Single-grain post-IR IRSL signals of K-feldspars from alluvial fan deposits in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Single grains of K-feldspar from alluvial fan units are dated using a more time-stable signal, the post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence, or, ‘post-IR IRSL’. A quick measurement protocol is discussed, ‘fast post-IR IRSL,’ that stimulates first with the IR diodes at the lower temperature and then measures grain-by grain at the higher temperature. A criterion is offered for rejecting outlying grains based on hierarchical clustering. Single-grain fading rates are found to diverge from single aliquot fading values, and the fading rates from the brightest subset of grains correspond well with an infinite age cobble and independent age control. Age comparison with a cosmogenic depth-profile age shows agreement at 1σ. The depositional chronology suggests that the climate responsible for regionally-extensive, upper-regime floods which aggraded the older units, transitioned into a climate producing weaker channelized floods around the Late Pleistocene–Holocene transition.

Post-IR IRSL production in perthitic feldspar

A museum sample of perthitic feldspar was used to study the production of post-IR IRSL signals. It was found that traps responsible for low temperature (∼230 °C) TL peaks play an unexpectedly important role in post-IR IRSL production. During the production of the IRSL signal during low temperature IR stimulation (100 °C), electrons are optically transferred from IRSL traps into these TL traps which have been emptied by the preceding preheat at 320 °C. Subsequent heating to 300 °C causes thermal transfer of these electrons from these traps back into previously emptied IRSL traps which are related to the high temperature TL peaks. IR stimulation of these electrons results in post-IR IRSL. Thus the initial source of the post-IR IRSL signal is the same as the IRSL signal, with a role being played by intermediate traps that give rise to TL signals between 200 and 250 °C, and the final source is similar to that of the IRSL signal. Therefore the post-IR IRSL signal is a by-product of the production of the IRSL signal. It was also found that post-IR IRSL production with high post-IR IR stimulation temperatures (e.g. >230 °C) additionally includes a small contribution from the post-IR isothermal decay of high temperature TL peaks that are not sensitive to IR stimulation at low stimulation temperatures.

Residual doses and sensitivity change of post IR IRSL signals from potassium feldspar under different bleaching conditions

The residual doses and sensitivity change for potassium-rich feldspar (K-feldspar) have been studied using the post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) and multi-elevated-temperature post-IR IRSL (MET-pIRIR) protocols. Laboratory simulated poorly-bleached and well-bleached samples were those K-feldspar grains bleached using a solar simulator for 10 minutes and 8 hours, respectively. The residual doses rise with stimulation temperature and time. The poorly-bleached sample has larger residual doses than the well-bleached sample, especially at high stimulation temperatures. The high-temperature pIRIR signals contain a large amount of hard-to-bleach signals. A decrease of luminescence sensitivity was observed after conducting a high-temperature-treatment in the measurement cycles. The sensitivity decreases significantly between the first and the second cycle. The extent of decrease in sensitivity shows a clear temperature trend. The higher the stimulation temperature of pIRIR signals is, the larger the sensitivity decreases. This decrease is more severe for the poorly-bleached sample than for the well-bleached sample, and could possibly lead to problems in sensitivity correction.

Investigating the contribution of recuperated TL to post-IR IRSL signals in a perthitic feldspar

Abstract Using a museum specimen of perthitic feldspar, the characteristics of post-IR IRSL production at 200 °C after different prior IR bleaching at 100 °C were investigated. It was found that the post-IR IRSL signal had an isothermal TL contribution that was unexpected following a previous preheat at 320 °C; this is the result of isothermal decay of recuperated TL peaks resulting from photo-transfer that occurred when the previous IRSL signal was measured at a lower temperature. The isothermal TL contribution to the post-IR IRSL signal depends on prior IR bleaching conditions. Since the recuperated TL signal comes from photo-transfer during IRSL production, this signal should also suffer from anomalous fading. Thus, it is suggested that this isothermal TL contribution to the measured post-IR IRSL is removed by the inclusion of an additional step, a cut-heat to 300 °C, in the post-IR IRSL dating protocol.

Investigations of the post-IR IRSL protocol applied to single K-feldspar grains from fluvial sediment samples

The post-IR IRSL protocol with single K-feldspar grains was applied to three samples taken from a fluvial sedimentary sequence at the archaeological site of the Dali Man, Shaanxi Province, China. K-feldspar coarse grains were extracted for measurement. Approximately 30–40% of the grains were sufficiently bright to measure, and after application of rejection criteria based on signal strength, recuperation, recycling ratio and saturation dose, ∼10–15% of the grains were used for De calculation. The relationship of signal decay rate and form of De(t) with the recovery dose were investigated. The dose recovery ratios of the samples after initial bleaching with the four different light sources were within uncertainties of unity. No anomalous fading was observed. The over-dispersion of the recovered dose and De values were similar, suggesting neither incomplete resetting of the post-IR IRSL signals nor spatially heterogeneous dose rates significantly affected the natural dose estimates. The values of De obtained with the single K-feldspar grain post-IR IRSL protocol were in the range ∼400–490 Gy. Combining all of the measured single-grain signals for each of the individual samples (into a ‘synthetic single aliquot’) increased the De estimates to the range ∼700–900 Gy, suggesting that the grains screened-out by the rejection criteria may have the potential to cause palaeodose over-estimation, although this finding requires a more extensive investigation. Thermally transferred signals were found in the single K-feldspar grains post-IR IRSL protocol, and the proportion of thermally transferred signal to test-dose OSL signal (stimulation at 290 °C) from the natural dose was higher than from regenerative doses, and the proportion was grain- and dose-dependent. As such, TT-post-IR IRSL signals at 290 °C have the potential to cause dose underestimation, although this may be reduced by using larger test-dose irradiations. Our study demonstrates considerable potential in the post-IR IRSL method in providing chronological control in studies relevant to human evolution in the later-Pleistocene.

A comparative study of the luminescence characteristics of polymineral fine grains and coarse-grained K- and Na-rich feldspars

The IRSL and post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) signal characteristics of polymineral fine grains are investigated and compared with those of K- and Na-rich feldspar extracts. TL signal loss after IR and pIRIR stimulations occurs mainly at around 320 °C for polymineral and Na-feldspar samples and around 410 °C for K-feldspar samples, when a preheat temperature of 250 °C for 60 s is used. After preheating to a higher temperature (320 °C for 60 s) all samples show a TL reduction around 410 °C in the blue detection window. Pulse annealing experiments for IRSL and pIRIR signals for preheats between 320 °C and 500 °C indicate that the signal stabilities are similar among the different feldspar types, when a higher preheat temperature (>320 °C) is used. Thermal activation energies for IRSL and pIRIR signals are largest in K-feldspar and smallest in polymineral fine grains, in both blue and UV detection windows for both fast time-resolved (TR) and continuous wave (CW) signals. These results suggest that IRSL and pIRIR signals in polymineral fine grains originate mainly from Na-feldspar grains; these signals are less thermally stable than those from K-feldspar, but a more stable signal (presumably from K-feldspar grains) can be obtained using a higher preheat temperature. ► Luminescence characteristics of polymineral fine grains are investigated. ► IRSL and pIRIR signals from polyminerals are less stable than from K-feldspar. ► Activation energies of IRSL and pIRIR signals from polymineral are lower than that of K-feldspar. ► Majority of luminescence from polymineral fine grains originates from Na-feldspar.

Comparison of the properties of various optically stimulated luminescence signals from potassium feldspar

Abstract Various optically stimulated luminescence signals from K-feldspar have been used to determine the equivalent doses of sediment samples. Understanding the properties of these optical signals is critical to evaluate their applicability and limitations to optical dating. In this paper, some properties of IRSL, post-IR OSL and post-IR IRSL signals (detected in the UV region using U-340 filters) from a museum sample of K-feldspar were investigated by analyzing the relationships between optical and TL signals, and the effect of optical bleaching and heating on optical signals. The trap parameters of the different optical signals were calculated using the pulse annealing method. The results show that this sample exhibits two regenerated TL peaks at ∼140 and ∼330 °C. Corresponding to the low temperature TL peak, the OSL and post-IR OSL signals appear to be more associated with lower temperature TL than the IRSL signal measured at 50 °C. Corresponding to the high temperature TL peak, the post-IR IRSL signals mainly originate from the more thermally stable traps associated with the high temperature TL, compared with the IRSL and post-IR OSL signals. However, the post-IR IRSL225 °C signal is shown to be hard to be bleached by blue light and simulated sunlight, compared with the IRSL50 °C and low temperature post-IR IRSL signals. The implication for optical dating is that the elevated temperature post-IR IRSL signals can be preferentially applied over other signals from K-feldspar, but it is desirable that the effectiveness of the pre-depositional zeroing of these signals is assessed.

IRSL and post-IR IRSL residual doses recorded in modern dust samples from the Chinese Loess Plateau

Using a set of modern/young (0 to about 200 years old) dust samples collected from the Chinese Loess Plateau the bleachability of IRSL measured at 50°C (IR50) and post-IR50 elevated temperature IRSL (measured at 225°C and at 290°C) is investigated by measuring the apparent (residual) doses recorded by these signals. Doses recorded by quartz OSL are used as a reference. Allowing for differences in dose rates it seems that both IRSL and post-IR IRSL signals yield residual doses that are significantly larger than the doses measured in quartz. These residual doses can be largely explained by thermal transfer caused by preheating. Nevertheless, we advise against the use of a low temperature preheat (<200°C) with IR50 to date loess samples because, as has been reported before, the signal appears to be thermally unstable. In general, we conclude that it may not be advisable to apply post-IR IRSL dating to Chinese loess samples where residuals of up to ∼20 Gy are a significant fraction of the total dose. However, these residuals quickly become unimportant when dating older samples, and this is the age range in which post-IR IRSL dating is likely to be most useful.

Stability of IRSL signals from sedimentary K-feldspar samples

Recent work has identified IR stimulated luminescence signals at elevated temperature from both potassium- and sodium-rich feldspars that have much lower anomalous fading rates than the conventional signal measured using IR stimulation at 50°C. This paper examines the stability of these signals for potassium-rich sedimentary feldspars. We show that the natural post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) signal from a 3.6 Ma old sample is in apparent saturation on a laboratory generated dose response curve, i.e. it does not show detectable fading in nature although a low fading rate is observed on laboratory time scales. We show that the pIRIR signal has a greater thermal stability than the IRSL signal and that the trend in increasing thermal stability is mirrored by a decreasing fading rate. We also investigate the effect of preheat temperature and IR stimulation power on the decay shape and conclude that the data can be explained in terms of either a single- or multiple-trap model. We present evidence that may suggest that at least part of pIRIR signal is derived from a high temperature trap (∼550°C thermoluminescence (TL) peak), although again the data can also be explained in terms of a single-trap model. Finally, we present dose response curves and characteristic curvature constants (D0) values for various IRSL signals and conclude that the more stable signals saturate more quickly than the less stable signals and that the initial and final signals saturate at approximately the same level.