Investigation of Properties of Colour Centers, Termoluminescence, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of Jadeite, a Natural Silicate Mineral: Dating and Radiation Dosimetry Applications

• Grant number: 10/20907-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2011
• End date: June 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Shigueo Watanabe
• Grantee: Renata de Faria Barbosa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The building blocks of any silicate crystal are the silicium based tetrahedron SiO4; they form chains, rings, frameworks, etc., with tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, etc., sites in the crystal network. Such polyhedral sites are usually occupied by cations of different nature. Of course, changing such cations in a given polyhedral site, the properties of the crystal are changed.In the present project, the aim is to investigate physical properties of jadeite of chemical formula NaAlSi2O6, which is a brother crystal of spodumene, LiAlSi2O6. As the color centers, thermoluminescence, electron paramagnetic resonance and photoluminescence properties of jadeite are measured, they will be compared to those of spodumene already investigated in this laboratory.