Database of luminescent minerals 

CHLORARGYRITE

Chemical formula: AgCl

Family: Halides

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Isometric

Display mineral: NON

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): embolite, 

Luminescence:

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Phosphorescence (in the common sense of the term) observable with the naked eye:

No data

Comments:

From a silver ore at Maikain, Kazakhstan, fluorescence is blue under LW.

From another silver ore location in Kasmanchi, Uzbeckistan, a bromian Chlorargyrite (Embolite?) fluoresces green under LW.

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Ag⁺, D-A (Donneur-Accepteur),  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

D-A (Donnor - Acceptor): 480-490nm  

Broad band around 525 nm with decay time of ~2–3 μs (intrinsic)

No spectrum yet

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Silver halides are capable to intrinsic luminescence.

It was found by steady-state luminescence spectroscopy that silver halides, such as chlorargyrite and embolite, demonstrate luminescence at low temperatures.

Such emission was explained in energy band scheme by donor-acceptor recombination.

Under powerful laser excitation, such luminescence was detected even at room temperature.

The spectra are evidently connected with the same luminescence centers (Gaft et al. 1989).

Laser-induced time-resolved luminescence spectrum of chlorargyrite demonstrates a relatively narrow green band with short decay time of ~2–3 μs (Gaft).

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Maikain, Kazakhstan;
• Kasmanchi, Uzbeckistan;

(*)The data are not exhaustive and are limited to a few remarkable localities for fluorescence

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• Luminescence Spectroscopy of Minerals and Materials, M. Gaft, R. Reisfeld, G. Panczer, Springer Editor, ISBN: 10 3-540-21918-8 ,
• Luminescent Spectra of Minerals, Boris S. Gorobets and Alexandre A. Rogojine, Moscow, 2002 ,

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

  http://www.mindat.org/show.php?name=Chlorargyrite

  http://webmineral.com/data/Chlorargyrite.shtml

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