THE OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE BASED PROCEDURES AND THEIR PHYSICAL BACKGROUND

Abstract. A review of the achievements made during the last decade in the study of the energy accumulation and transformation processes in quartz and alkali feldspars, used as natural palaeo-dosimeters, is given. It is shown how the obtained results have contributed to the application of optical dating through the use of alkali feldspars, finding more effective spectral regions of stimulation, and choice of optimal powers and duration of the stimulating impulses. The strong and weak points of the measuring procedures used in optical dating are analysed and the corresponding new high-sensitivity apparatus is introduced. It appears that, in the case of a reasonable choice of the parameters of stimulating impulses, the presently used multiple-aliquots method is in every way competitive with the new methods. Key words: natural palaeodosimeters, optically stimulated luminescence, dating procedure