FT-IR, Raman, Photoluminescence and ED-XRF Spectroscopic studies of physico-chemical Alterations induced by Nitrogen ion Irradiation on Natural Ruby corundum from parts of Southern India

Corundum samples of brick red variety from Maragowdanahalli area of Mysore district, Karnataka, Pale pink variety from Lachmanapatti area of Karur district, Tamil Nadu and the colourless or fleshy red coloured from Poovanahalli area of Mysore district, Karnataka are subjected to heavy ion beams of Nitrogen in specific energy and dosage to trigger Physico-chemical changes. Nitrogen ions are irradiated with energy of 120 KeV with a beam current of 1µA, using 150 kV gaseous ion implanter. The implantation is being carried out on all the samples at a dose of 1x1017 ions/cm2. The irradiation process has resulted in subtle changes in appearance with respect to colour of the samples. There is seemingly an impartment of purplish hue in the brick red variety, dark bluish tint in the pale pink variety and pinkish tone over the fleshy red variety samples after subjecting to the ion implantation. The capability of Nitrogen ions to alter the elemental configuration is being attempted to understand. The alterations induced in the samples are deciphered with the help of spectroscopic techniques namely FT-IR, Raman, and Photoluminescence, supplemented with the quantified chemistry obtained from ED-XRF study.