Ionizing radiation effects in MgAl2O4

The effect of ionizing radiation in MgAl2O4 has been studied, paying special interest to the influence of the high concentration of intrinsic dsefects of this material. Optical absorption, ESR, photoluminiscence, radioluminiscence, and thermoluminiscence are the main techniques used. The ionizing radiation induces to formation of V centres. During the work its characteristics (structure, thermal stability, absorption spectra, etc.) has been studied. The thermoluminiscence spectra allowed the discovery of several charge release processes between 85 and 650 K, all of them associated to electron release. The V-centres and several impurities (Cr, Mn,...) appear as recombination centres. The obtained data show that the kinetic of these charge release processes is regulated by the presence of a point defect with a very high concentration. This defect is an electron trap and its structure is an Al ion in a lattice site of tetraedral symmetry. (Author)