The role of sodium ions in the thermoluminescence peaks of laboratory-irradiated natural quartz

Highlights: • TL and PTTL spectral glow curves of irradiated natural quartz are presented. • The role of sodium ions in the generation of the TL and PTTL peaks is studied. • The relationship between TL and PTTL processes is studied in detail. In this study, the role of sodium ions (Na⁺) in the generation of thermoluminescence (TL) peaks in the 77–680 K region of natural quartz are investigated by combining the TL and phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) spectrally-resolved glow curves. The TL spectrum is characterized by four emission bands at 380, 470, 590, and 620 nm, which are related to four TL peaks at 383, 513, 598, and 648 K, respectively. The dynamic parameters of the TL peaks are evaluated using the initial rise method. PTTL is also studied in the temperature range of 77–330 K. In this region, PTTL curves show four main peaks at 160, 190, 250, and 295 K, in which the intensity of the PTTL peak at 250 K is shown to be relative to the Na⁺ concentration and the double irradiation process. PTTL measurements were further used to estimate the relationship between the TL peak at 598 K and PTTL peak at 383 K.