Database of luminescent minerals 

DIOPSIDE

Chemical formula: CaMgSi₂O₆

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-A

Crystal system : Monoclinic

Display mineral: NON

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

DIOPSIDE, Stockton Mining District, Tooele, Utah, USA

Photo and Copyright: James Horste
Used with permission of the author.

Shortwave (254nm) picture

DIOPSIDE UVSW, Stockton Mining District, Tooele, Utah, USA

Photo and Copyright: James Horste
Used with permission of the author.

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

No data

Comments:

Variety fassaite : white SW and LW;(Fassaite is now associated with augite but sometime described a diopside variety in the 19th publication)
Associated as grain (fluo blue SW) in wernerite (fluo orange LW) in Canada.
Associated with NORBERGITE (fluo Yellow SW) in Franklin, New jersey, USA;

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): n[TiO₆] cluster, Cr³⁺,  Fe³⁺,  Mn²⁺ ,  Nd³⁺,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

[TiO_n]^m-: 450nm band, 520nm
Mn²⁺II repl. Ca²⁺: 580 - 585 - 586nm
Mn²⁺I repl. Mg²⁺: 690nm (Franklin, USA exc. 532nm)
Fe³⁺ : 758nm (Otter Lake, Canada, exc. 532nm)
Cr³⁺ repl. Mg²⁺?: 684, 705, 860nm
Cr³⁺ : broad band at 785nm  connected to Cr3+ center in weak crystal field (decay time of 5 μs) 
Cr³⁺ in average crystal field or to V²⁺ : broad structured band peaking at approximately 700 nm with peaks at 679, 685, 700, 722nm (V²⁺) (sample from Tyrol, exc. 532nm)
(?) : 670nm (sample from Fassathal, Tyrol, exc. 532nm)
Nd³⁺ : 874, 891, 916nm (Otter Lake, Canada, exc. 780nm)

No spectrum yet

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Natural diopside displays a large variety of luminescence centers: at room temperature main features are a 450 nm band, that can be ascribed to the TiO₆ complex, an intense bands at 585 and 690 nm that can be ascribed to Mn²⁺ ions in M2 (Ca²⁺) and M1 (Mg²⁺) sites, lines near 684 nm belonging to Cr³⁺ and band peaking at 690 nm ascribed to Fe³⁺ (Gorobets and Rogojine 2001).

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Franklin Quarry, Franklin Marble, Franklin, Franklin Mining District, Sussex Co., New Jersey, USA;
• Farber Quarry, Franklin, New jersey, USA; Sparta, New Jersey, USA;
• Limecrest Quarry, Sparta Township, Sussex Co., New Jersey, USA;
• Lake Valhalla Quarry, Montville Township, Morris Co., New Jersey, USA;
• Ilimaussaq complex, Kvanefjeld, Narsaq, Kitaa (West Greenland) Province, Greenland;
• Zinc Corp. of America, mine 4, Balmat, St Lawrence County, New York, USA;
• State Route 28N roadcut, Newcomb Township, Essex Co., New York, USA;
• Amity, Town of Warwick, Orange Co., New York, USA (bright white SW);
• Fort Ann, Washington Co., New York, USA;
• Edwards, Balmat-Edwards Zinc District, St. Lawrence Co., New York, USA;
• H.T. Campbell Quarry, Texas, Baltimore Co., Maryland, USA;
• Long Lake Zinc Mine, Parham, Ontario, Canada (Diopside fl. SW cream to blue-white + calcite fl. SW red + humite fl. SW yellow + chondrodite fl. SW yellow);
• Jeffrey Mine (Johns-Manville Mine), Asbestos, Les Sources RCM, Estrie, Québec, Canada (intense fluo SW+LW, associated with yellow-green to violet Vesuvianite);
• Merelani Hills, Lelatema Mts, Simanjiro District, Manyara Region, Tanzania (Fluo SW, dull fluo LW);
• Gföhl, Waldviertel, Lower Austria, Austria (blue SW);

(*)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 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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