ION-BEAM-INDUCED LUMINESCENCE FROM DIAMOND AND OTHER CRYSTALS FROM A NUCLEAR MICROBEAM

Analysis of the luminescence induced by a MeV ion beam offers the pote ntial to provide useful information about the chemical properties of a toms in crystals to complement the information provided by more tradit ional Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectr ometry (RBS), ion channeling and Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE ). Furthermore, the large penetration depth of the MeV ion beam offers several advantages over the relatively shallow penetration of keV ele ctrons typically employed in cathodoluminescence. We have developed an Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL) detection system for the Melbour ne microprobe that allows the spatial mapping of the luminescence sign al along with the signals from RBS and PIXE. Homoepitaxial diamond gro wth has been studied and remarkable shifts in the characteristic blue luminescence of diamond towards the green were observed in the overgro wth. This has been tentatively identified as being due to transition m etal inclusions in the epitaxial layers. We have also found IBIL to be useful in the study of damage produced by the analysis beam, since th e intensity of the luminescence signal is very sensitive to the ion be am dose in diamond and other crystals.