Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Alkali ions, which compensate for substitional Al3+, play an important role in the frequency stability of α-quartz crystals. In this work, low temperature dielectricloss measurements (between 2.9 and 300 K) are carried out on crystals that have been “swept” so as to introduce either Li+ or Na+. High quality synthetic crystals as well as natural crystals are employed. The well known loss peaks due to Al-Na pairs are further explored and similar peaks due to Al-Li are sought after but not found. It is concluded that the Al-Li pair is oriented along the C2 -axis of the A104 distorted tetrahedron. After irradiation, large peaks are observed at very low temperatures both in Li+- and Na+-containing crystals. These peaks, which are distorted below ∼6 K due to the onset of quantum effects, may originate in alkali centers produced when alkali ions are liberated by the irradiation.