Radioluminescence monitoring of radiation induced surface electrical degradation in aluminas

Abstract A possible correlation between observed surface electrical degradation in three types of alumina under ion bombardment and changes in luminescence emission has been examined by in situ sequential measurement of ion beam induced luminescence and electrical conductivity. Common luminescence bands are observed at 340, 410, and 695 nm corresponding to F + , F and Cr 3+ together with additional impurity related emissions for each material. Rapid changes in these emission bands occur as a precursor to measurable surface electrical degradation, justifying the interest in the study of this technique as a potential monitoring tool for material evolution and degradation during irradiation.