Luminescence of sapphire single crystals irradiated with high-power ion beams

Abstract

Optical absorption, photo- and cathodoluminescence of a sapphire single crystal (α-Al 2 O 3 ) exposed to pulsed nanosecond radiation with high-power ion beams C + /H + with an energy of 300 keV and energy density 0.5-1.5 J/cm 2 were first investigated in this work. It was found that under ion irradiation accompanied by heating of sapphire up to melting, the formation of F-type centers and their aggregates associated with oxygen vacancies was observed in the crystals under study. These centers have luminescence bands at 330, 410 and 500 nm which depend on the type and wavelength of the optical excitation. The appearance of a new PL emission at 435 nm, presumably associated with a complex vacancy-impurity defect, was also observed in the photoluminescence spectra. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.