Fast-neutron-induced and as-grown structural defects in magnesium aluminate spinel crystals with different stoichiometry

Abstract Several hole-type paramagnetic defects (a hole localized at a regular oxygen ion near charged structural defect/defects) have been revealed in fast-neutron-irradiated MgO⋅2.5Al2O3 single crystals using the EPR method. Three of them (a dominant V1 and small amount of V2 and V22) were recently revealed in a neutron-irradiated stoichiometric MgAl2O4, while a novel V4 center, ascribed to a hole in a form of O− ion nearby a complex of a magnesium vacancy and a positively charged antisite defect (V4 ≡ O–‑VMg‑Al|Mg), was created by fast neutrons only in a nonstoichiometric single crystal. The pulse annealing of the EPR signal of these centers was compared to that of radiation induced opti…