Abstract
IN a recent communication1 Derham and Geake have reported on the proton excited luminescence of some stony meteorites. The emission shows a prominent red emission with a maximum at 6700 Å together with a smaller emission peak at 4000 Å. Such meteorites of the enstatite achrondite group have a significant content of magnesium metasilicate MgSiO3, which suggests that the red luminescence is associated with manganese impurity centres in this silicate. The material is well known as a synthetic cathodoluminescent phosphor, and in Fig. 1 the spectrum of a typical synthesized specimen excited by 5.kV cathode rays2 is compared with that of the emission duo to proton excitation for the Khor Temiki meteorite as measured by Derham and Geake1. The synthetic phosphor contains 0.15 mol. per cent of manganese. Higher concentrations promote an additional emission peak of comparable intensity at about 7400 Å which is not present in the meteorite specimen.
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References
Derham, C. J., and Geake, J. E., Nature, 201, 62 (1964).
Fonda, G. R., and Froehlich, H. C., Solid Luminescent Materials, 385 (Wiley, New York, 1948).
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GARLICK, G. Luminescence of Meteorites. Nature 202, 171 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/202171a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/202171a0
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