Database of luminescent minerals 

ZIRCON

Chemical formula: ZrSiO₄

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Tetragonal

Display mineral: OUI

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): alvite,  cyrtolite,  malacon, 

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

Zircon, Rift Mineral Province, Malawi;
Col. G. Barmarin
Photo: Courtesy MinerShop.com

Shortwave (254nm) picture

Zircon, Rift Mineral Province, Malawi;
UVSW, Col. G. Barmarin
Photo: Courtesy MinerShop.com

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

No data

Tenebrescence: OUI

Thermoluminescence: OUI

Comments:

Variété alvite (contenant du Hf, Th et des terres rares: OC et LW: vert; SW: Rouge-orangé;
Variété cyrtolite (zircon partiellement métamicte contenant U et souvent Th et des terres rares: OC: jaune;
variété malacon (zircon très métamicte, souvent brun: OL: orange; 
Zircon is ometimes thermoluminescent

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Centres dûs aux effets des radiations, (UO₂)²⁺ (ion Uranyle) en impureté,  Cr³⁺,  Fe³⁺,  Sm³⁺,  Eu³⁺,  Dy³⁺,  Ho³⁺,  Er³⁺,  Tb³⁺,  Nd³⁺,  Yb³⁺,  Tm³⁺,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

Dy³⁺ : 472, 481, 486nm

(UO₂)²⁺ : 506, 523, 550nm

 Fe³⁺ : 750 nm, Δ = 110–120 nm and τ = 3–5 ms 

Neutron and alpha irradiation : 575 nm, peak half-width (Δ) = 120–130 nm, and decay time (τ) = 30–35 µs 

Spectrum: Michael Gaft, Petah Tikva, Israel. Plot: Institute of Mineralogy, University of Vienna, Austria, with permission of the authors.

Spectrum Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (13 spectra)

Comments on spectrum and activators:

The crystal chemistry of zircon strongly favors the incorporation of REE in Zr⁴⁺ site. The REE impurities become luminescent in this crystallographic environment.

The steady-state luminescence in natural zircons is dominated by broad emission arising from radiation induced centers and narrow emission lines of Dy3+ (Trofimov 1962; Tarashchan 1978). These emissions obscure the spectra of other REE. The thermal treatment enables to solve this problem in certain cases using the fact that the intensity of broad band luminescence quickly decreases after heating at 700 °C–800 °C, while the intensities of the REE lines remain nearly constant (Shinno 1986, 1987). Even after heating the samples not all the REE can be identified by steady-state spectroscopy since the weaker luminescence lines of certain REE are obscured by stronger luminescence of others. For example, the luminescence of Pr³⁺ is difficult to detect because the lines of Sm³⁺, Dy³⁺ and Nd³⁺ hide its radiative transitions. In turn, Tb³⁺ conceals luminescence of Tm³⁺ and so on.

Different suppositions are made in previous studies and even the question about yellow luminescence connection with intrinsic or impurity defect remains open.

The yellow band with peak wavelength (λmax) = 575 nm, peak half-width (Δ) = 120–130 nm, and decay time (τ) = 30–35 µs is connected with neutron and alpha irradiation.
The red band with λmax = 750 nm, Δ = 110–120 nm and τ = 3–5 ms is connected with Fe³⁺. (M. Gaft, I. Shinno, G. Panczer and R. Reisfeld, Laser-induced time-resolved spectroscopy of visible broad luminescence bands in zircon, Mineralogy and Petrology, vol76, 2002)

Activators: broadband emission from radiation induced centers and lines from Dy³⁺ (Trofimov in Gaft) masking other lines from REE in Zr⁴⁺ site.

The intensity of the broadband luminescence quickly decrease after heating at 700-800° while the lines from REE stay constant (Shinno in Gaft). 

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• OstSkogen Quarry, Tuften Quarry, Arent Quarry, Tvedalen, Langesundfjord, Larvik Plutonic complex, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway;
• Zirconium prospect, Stokkøya, Langesundsfjorden, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway;
• Granit Quarry, Tuften, Tvedalen, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway;
• Store Kufjord, Seiland Island, Alta, Finnmark, Norway;
• Goiás, Brazil;
• Peixe, Peixe alkaline complex, Tocantins, Brazil;
• Kipawa alkaline complex, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue, Témiscamingue RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada;
• Mount Malosa, Zomba District, Malawi;
• Lovozero Massif, Kola Peninsula, Murmanskaja Oblast, Northern Region, Russia;
• Chelyabinsk Oblast, Southern Urals, Urals Region, Russia;
• Astor Valley, Astor District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan;
• Poudrette quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada;
• Mud Tank, Alcoota Station, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australia;

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

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• The Henkel Glossary of Fluorescent Minerals, Dr. Gerhard Henkel, Published by the FMS, 1989 ,
• Fluorescence: Gems and Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light, Manuel Robbins, 1994, Geoscience Press, ISBN 0-945005-13-X ,
• The World of Fluorescent Minerals, Stuart Schneider, Schiffer Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0-7643-2544-2 ,
• 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 ,
• Minershop.com ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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