Color Centers in Quartz Produced by Crushing

Abstract Results are presented for electron spin resonance measurements carried out at room temperature on freshly powdered high purity quartz and fused silica. As a result of the powdering, unpaired electrons are produced in concentrations of 10 14 to 10 15 per gram, depending on the particle size. The thermal stability of the centers is studied at various temperatures. A discussion of the shape of the resonance line is given, in terms of a model based on an anisotropic g ‐factor, and a random distribution of the orientations of the symmetry axes of the individual centers.