A natural quartz, annealed first at 800°C and then irradiated with a 3.5 MeV electron beam, has been investigated by single-crystal electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at X- and W-band frequencies from 110 K to 298 K. The W-band EPR spectra allow better separation of two previously reported radiation-induced defects (D and E) and improved determinations of their spin Hamiltonian parameters. These defects have similar g tensors with the g_max axes approximately along an O—O pair and g_min axes perpendicular to the short Si—O bonds, but different ²⁷Al hyperfine structures. Centre E is also characterized by a ²⁹Si hyperfine structure (A/g_eβ_e = ~0.4 mT). These spin Hamiltonian parameters, together with results from density functional theory (DFT) calculations, suggest centre E to be a new variant of peroxy radicals in quartz, whereas a peroxy radical model for centre D remains tentative. Thermal stabilities and decay kinetics of centres D and E have been investigated by use of isochronal and isothermal annealing experiments on a neutron-irradiated quartz and six smoky quartz crystals in druses from a U deposit.

This paper presents the results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of a synthetic beryl, containing D₂O molecules in its c-axis channels, which we synthesized under hydrothermal conditions at 600 °C and 1.5 kbar. The frequencies of absorbance bands in the range of the stretching vibrations and their overtones and combination modes for D₂O and HDO molecules have been assigned for the first time. On the basis of our assignments, the absorbance bands observed for the natural beryl in the range of the OD stretching vibrations have been explained.