Colour centres in plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite.
Very pure hydroxyapatite is diamagnetic and shows no electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum. Plasma-sprayed coatings made with such a pure hydroxyapatite contain paramagnetic point-defects. Irradiated deposits show a strong EPR absorption assigned to an O2- anion adjacent to a calcium vacancy, with anisotropic parameters, g1 = 2.004, g2 = 2.013 and g3 = 2.038. The EPR spectra and colour fade away following thermal annealing. These features are discussed in terms of point-defects in the hydroxyapatite crystal structure.
Electron spin resonance in silicon substituted apatite and tricalcium phosphate.
Impurity centers associated with silicon have been observed in the phase mixture of silicon substituted apatite (Si-Ap) and silicon stabilized tricalcium phosphate (Si-TCP) using electron spin resonance (ESR). Two unique centers occur upon addition of SiO2 to the calcium phosphate system: an orthorhombic center with g-values 2.0072+/-0.0001, 2.0024+/-0.0001 and 2.0003+/-0.0001 (Si-h1) and a center with tetrahedral symmetry having g-values components 2.0054+/-0.0001 and 1.9992+/-0.0003 (Si-h2). Both centers are hypothesized to be characteristic of defects associated with silicon in the Si-Ap phase. Through comparison of the intensity of F-OH centers in undoped calcium hydroxyapatite (HA) prepared with various levels of OH occupancy, a relationship is demonstrated between the ESR intensity of an F-center signal with g = 2.0019+0.0004 (F-OH) and the OH occupation of HA. Relative changes in the intensity of ESR signals Si-h1 and F-OH are consistent with a chemical model describing the substitution of SiO4(4-) for PO4(3-) in HA with the creation of OH- vacancies as charge compensation, resulting in a mixed phase composition of Si-Ap and Si-TCP that results when a hydroxyapatite precipitate (HA) is heated in the presence of added SiO2.
Electron irradiation experiments in gold with 2.5‐MeV electrons
Electron irradiations were performed on six nines purity gold in the 3‐MV electron microscope at Toulouse. Partially ordered vacancy tetrahedra were observed in all of the sample while interstitial loops were formed in its thick parts. Investigation of the nature and cause of the ordering are reported.