Luminescence, fluorescence and phosphorescence of minerals

TITANITE

Chemical Formula: CaTiSiO₅

Familly: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal System: Monoclinic

Mineral for Display: No

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

Luminescence:

UV Type	Main color	Intensity	Observation Frequency

Short Waves (254 nm):	Dark Orange /Tawn

Phosphorescence (in the common meaning of the term) seen by naked eye:

No Data

Main Activator(s) and spectrum:

Most Common Activator: Radiation induced centers

Other activators: 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.

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To the spectrum gallery (2 spectra in the gallery)

Comments on activators and spectra:

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 Locality for luminescence(*):

Franklin Marble, Rudeville, New Jersey, USA (weak brown SW);
Capelinha, Minas Gerais, Brazil;
Kola Peninsula, Russia (dim brown SW);

(*)Data are not exhaustive and are limited to the most important localities for fluorescence

Bibliographical 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 ,

Note: While all due attention has been paid to the implementation of the database, it may contain errors and/or accidental omissions. By nature, the database will always be incomplete because science always evolves according to new analysis.
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Database of luminescent Minerals