SWIFT HEAVY ION IRRADIATION EFFECTS ON DOPED ALKALI HALIDES

The effects produced by heavy ion irradiation in KBr:Ag and KCl:Ag crystals are investigated using optical spectroscopy. For KCl, the results are compared with the effects obtained in the pure crystals. After irradiation with heavy ions up to 11.2 MeV/u specific energy, the absorption bands suffer a series of changes, related to the structure of defects and also to their dimensions. In the high Ag concentrated samples, the Ag+ ions are changing their valence to Ag- while in the samples containing Ag nanoclusters the irradiation induces changes in the nanocluster size