Database of luminescent minerals 

TITANITE

Chemical formula: CaTiSiO₅

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Monoclinic

Display mineral: NON

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

Luminescence:

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

No data

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Centres dûs aux effets des radiations, Cr³⁺,  Ti³⁺,  Sm³⁺,  Eu³⁺,  Er³⁺,  Pr³⁺,  Nd³⁺,  Tm³⁺,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

Sm³⁺ : 600nm

Eu ³⁺ : 620, 703nm 

Ti³⁺? : 742

749 762 769 793 798 804 820nm

Cr³⁺ : 750, 750, 786nm

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 (3 spectra)

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Potential luminescent centers include intrinsic TiO₆ and Ti³⁺ and different impurities such as trivalent and divalent rare-earth elements (REE), Pb²⁺ and Mn²⁺ substituting for Ca²⁺, Cr³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ substituting for Ti⁴⁺, and Cr⁴⁺, Cr⁵⁺ and Fe³⁺ substituting for Si⁴⁺.

Besides that, titanite can incorporate minor amounts of radioactive impurity components (particularly U and Th) that affect the crystal structure through α- and β-decay events.

Thus radiation-induced luminescence centers are also possible.

Nevertheless, steady-state luminescent spectroscopy of titanite under UV and X-ray excitations did not reveal characteristic bands and lines (Gorobets and Rogojine 2001) and only ionoluminescence spectrum of titanite exhibits various narrow lines of Sm³⁺, Eu³⁺ and Nd³⁺ (Yang 1995).

Chromium and other metals, such as Nb, Ta, V, Mn, Mg, Sn, Al, and Fe, are generally considered to be incorporated at the six-fold coordinated Ti-site whereas REEs substitute Ca on its large, seven-coordinated site. (Gaft)

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Franklin Marble, Rudeville, New Jersey, USA (weak brown SW);
• Capelinha, Minas Gerais, Brazil;
• Kola Peninsula, Russia (dim brown 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 ,
• Luminescence Spectroscopy of Minerals and Materials, M. Gaft, R. Reisfeld, G. Panczer, Springer Editor, ISBN: 10 3-540-21918-8 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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