Time-resolved infrared stimulated luminescence signals in feldspars: Analysis based on exponential and stretched exponential functions

Time-resolved infrared-stimulated luminescence (TR-IRSL) signals from feldspar samples have been the subject of several recent experimental studies. These signals are of importance in the field of luminescence dating, since they exhibit smaller fading effects than the commonly employed continuous-wave infrared signals (CW-IRSL). This paper presents a semi-empirical analysis of TR-IRSL data from feldspar samples, by using a linear combination of exponential and stretched exponential (SE) functions. The best possible estimates of the five parameters in this semi-empirical approach are obtained using five popular commercially available software packages, and by employing a variety of global optimization techniques. The results from all types of software and from the different fitting algorithms were found to be in close agreement with each other, indicating that a global optimum solution has likely been reached during the fitting process. Four complete sets of TR-IRSL data on well-characterized natural feldspars were fitted by using such a linear combination of exponential and SE functions. The dependence of the extracted fitting parameters on the stimulation temperature is discussed within the context of a recently proposed model of luminescence processes in feldspar. Three of the four feldspar samples studied in this paper are K-rich, and these exhibited different behavior at higher stimulation temperatures, than the fourth sample which was a Na-rich feldspar. The new method of analysis proposed in this paper can help isolate mathematically the more thermally stable components, and hence could lead to better dating applications in these materials. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.