Measurement of the beta parameter of activated CaCO3 using time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy

Abstract

The decay of luminescence emitted by an activated natural calcite sample after being excited by longwave ultraviolet light (370 nm) has been measured and analyzed. The time evolution of the light intensity did not follow a single exponential decay. Rather, a distribution of decay-times was inferred via the extraction of a fit parameter characterizing the nature of the observed stretched exponential decay, herein referred to as the beta parameter. In conjunction with the average wavelength of the emitted light as well as its average decay-time, the beta parameter may serve as an important predictor of the nature, concentration and spatial homogeneity of the activators (and possible quenchers) within the calcite sample.