Short-lived primary radiation defects in LiF crystals

The spectral and kinetic parameters of electron-pulse-initiated transient absorption and emission of LiF crystals were studied using pulsed spectrometry with a nanosecond time resolution. The measurements were performed in the spectral region of 6 eV, the temperature range of 11–150 K, and within 10−8–10 s after the termination of an electron pulse. It is shown that the electron-pulse irradiation not only gives rise to F, Vk, and H centers in the LiF crystal but also to certain short-lived defects of two types that differ in the spectral positions of the absorptive and radiative transitions, the lifetime, and the temperature dependence of the production efficiency. Defects of type I feature absorptive transitions at 5.5 and 5.1 eV and a radiative transition at 5.8 eV, whereas the absorptive transitions at 5.3 and 4.75 eV and a radiative transition at 4.4 eV are characteristic of type-II defects. It is found that a variation in the ratio between the concentrations of the different types of short-lived centers in the range of 11–150 K does not affect the quantum efficiency of the F centers. It is assumed that the observed centers are self-trapped excitons of various types.