Heated Irradiated Glass Rods

The photograph to the left shows two irradiated glass rods after one end of each (the left end in the photo) has been heated in a gas-oxygen flame. The heating decolorized the glass.

The larger of the two glass rods (ca. 1" in diameter) is quartz. I believe the smaller of the two (ca. 1/4" in diameter) is Pyrex. Both were irradiated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with cobalt-60 gamma rays.

The photograph to the right shows the thermoluminescent blue glow emitted by the end of the quartz rod immediately after it was heated. The heating freed the electrons trapped at the color centers created by the irradiation.

Donated by Phil Rudolph.

Reference

Rudolph, P. Radiation Effects on Glass. Proceedings of the Eigth Symposium on the Art of Glassblowing. 1963.