Luminescent Properties of Rocks, Meteorites and Natural Glasses under Proton Bombardment

SUGGESTIONS that some transient lunar events 1 are luminescent phenomena, excited by solar protons, have aroused interest in the luminescent properties of putative lunar surface materials. We have studied the luminescence produced in various minerals and meteorites by a beam of 146 MeV protons from the Atomic Energy Research Establishment synchrocyclotron. Both our proton flux, about 10 8 protons sec −1 cm −2 , and the ionization density are many orders of magnitude lower than those used by other workers 2–4 ; thus we avoid their problems of radiation damage and simulate more closely the conditions on the Moon's surface.