Hope College Physics Department Research Experiences for Undergraduates Summer 2008 Project Summary

Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL) is an ion beam analysis (IBA) technique that can be used in conjunction with the IBA method of Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) for geological analysis of minerals. In IBIL, visible light is emitted by sample minerals during proton irradiation when transition metals, rare earth metals, and lattice defects are present in the crystal. Orientation dependance of the luminescence in feldspars has been observed and it results from the crystals having multiple faces for electron channeling. IBIL was compared to the established technique of Cathode Luminescence (CL) and specific peaks were found to be shifted due to localized heating and crystal properties. IBIL has been shown to be a viable alternative to CL for the geological analysis of minerals and it has the advantage of being less subject to surface inhomogeneity.

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Publications and Presentations:
"PIXIE as a Complement to Trace Metal Analysis of Sediments by ICP-OES", J.M. Lunderberg*, R.J. Bartlett, A.M. Behm, C. Contreras, P.A. DeYoung, N.L. Hoogeveen*, A.J. Huisman*, G.F. Peaslee, and J.K. Postma*. Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B266, 4782, (2008).

"PIXIE Analysis of Lake Sediment, as a Complementary Technique for ICP Analysis", G.F. Peaslee, P.A. DeYoung, J.M. Lunderberg*, L. Rojo, T.E. Gill, and M.A. Barnes. 2008 Joint Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies with the Gulf Coast Section of SEPM, (2008).

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