Radiation Induced Frequency and Resistance Changes in Electrolyzed High Purity Quartz Resonators

Abstract

Radiation induced frequency and resistance changes in precision 5 MHz AT-cut quartz resonators fabricated from electrolyzed, high purity quarts are described. A description is given of the radiation measurement methods, transient and steady-state data, and the results of thermal modeling. It is concluded that SARP optical and Premium-Q quartz may be pure enough as grown that (1) the usual frequency time dependent recovery characteristic of t/sup -1/2/ is not observed; (2) without electrolysis, the impurity levels are nevertheless high enough to cause a significant decrease in Q for a short time following a pulse of ionizing radiation; (3) electrolysis can further reduce radiation response so that impurity effects are no longer significant; and (4) the transient radiation response in electrolyzed quartz is primarily thermal in nature.