Analysis of Thermoluminescence Glow Curves of Mineral Sphene and Epidote for Radiation Damage Studies

Abstract

Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of sphene and epidote are of interest in studies related to their radiation damage. Natural and artifically induced TL of these minerals has, therefore, been investigated. Both minerals exhibit complex glow curves with several overlapping peaks. The Tm-TSTOP thermal cleaning procedure has revealed three peaks in the ? ray induced glow curve of each mineral. That these peaks obey second order kinetics was indicated by the continuously slanting structure of the Tm-TSTOP curve. The TL parameters E and s have been calculated using (i) the initial rise method, and (ii) the glow-peak shape method. In general, the values of E calculated by the first method are found to be higher than those from the second. The TL curve-fitting method is also applied in order to calculate these parameters and to serve as a cross-check on the results.