Study of the 110°C TL peak sensitivity in optical dating of quartz

As the 110 degreesC TL emission in quartz uses the same luminescence centers as the OSL emission, the 110 degreesC TL signal from a test dose may be used to monitor the OSL sensitivity change. It is thus important to study the relationship between the 110 degreesC TL. peak and the OSL sensitivity in studies related to optical dating from quartz. We have conducted a series of experiments using sedimentary quartz, where the annealing temperatures were varied between 260 and 1000 degreesC before the measurement of OSL and 110 degreesC TL sensitivities. Another series of experiments on two sedimentary quartz samples investigated the 110 degreesC TL peak and OSL dose-dependent sensitivity change after different annealing temperatures. In these experiments, the 110 degreesC TL and OSL signals from the test dose are shown to have similar sensitization characteristics: the 110 degreesC TL sensitivity change is proportional to the OSL sensitivity change if the annealing temperature is lower than 500 degreesC. It is concluded that the 110 degreesC TL signal can be used to correct the OSL sensitivity change in the single-aliquot additive-dose protocol. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights resented.