Radiation-induced defects in sapphire single crystals irradiated by a pulsed ion beam

Abstract The luminescence and thermal stability of defects formed in α-Al2O3 single crystals after powerful (300 keV) pulsed irradiation with C+/H+ ion beam were investigated. It was found by measuring of optical density, photoluminescence, and pulsed cathodoluminescence that ion irradiation induces both single F-, F+-centers and F2-type aggregate centers. An intense thermoluminescence band with a complex shape was observed in the broad temperature range of 350–700 K, its intensity decreases with increasing of the energy density of the ion beam. The thermal stability of the F-type defects produced in α-Al2O3 after irradiation with a pulsed ion beam is comparable to that in neutron-irradiate…