ION-BEAM-INDUCED LUMINESCENCE FROM DIAMOND AND OTHER CRYSTALS FROM A NUCLEAR MICROBEAM

Analysis of the luminescence induced by a MeV ion beam offers the potential to provide useful information about the chemical properties of atoms in crystals to complement the information provided by more traditional Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), ion channeling and Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE). Furthermore, the large penetration depth of the MeV ion beam offers several advantages over the relatively shallow penetration of keV electrons typically employed in cathodoluminescence. We have developed an Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL) detection system for the Melbourne microprobe that allows the spatial mapping of the luminescence signal along with the signals from RBS and PIXE. Homoepitaxial diamond growth has been studied and remarkable shifts in the characteristic blue luminescence of diamond towards the green were observed in the overgrowth. This has been tentatively identified as being due to transition metal inclusions in the epitaxial layers. We have also found IBIL to be useful in the study of damage produced by the analysis beam, since the intensity of the luminescence signal is very sensitive to the ion beam dose in diamond and other crystals.