CHARACTERISTICS OF INFRARED-STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE FROM A FELDSPAR AT LOW-TEMPERATURES

The characteristics of infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) from a sample of potassium feldspar at low temperatures are presented. These studies extend the previous work from this laboratory on the optical b leaching characteristics and emission spectra of feldspars at room tem perature and recent measurements of the stimulated spectrum for a samp le of potassium feldspar at room temperature. Stimulation spectra have been measured at 290, 160 and 145 K. By fitting Gaussian functions to the spectra, the peak position is shown to shift to higher proton ene rgies at lower temperatures and the full-width half-maximum of the pea k to reduce with decreasing temperature. The variation of IRSL intensi ty with temperature for several stimulating wavelengths has been deter mined and the form of the IRSL decay curve measured at 290 and 160 K. No substantial differences were observed in the form of the decay curv es at each temperature.