Thermal-cycling memory and non-equilibrium relaxation in defect-containing crystalline solids
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54355/tbusphys/30070147.4.3.2026.0059Keywords:
thermal memory, defect relaxation, thermoluminescence, thermal cycling, thermally stimulated current, crystalline solidsAbstract
Thermal history can strongly influence the nonequilibrium state of defect-containing crystalline solids, yet the persistence and quantitative evolution of such memory effects remain insufficiently characterized. This study experimentally investigates thermal-cycling memory and nonequilibrium relaxation using thermoluminescence, thermally stimulated current, quenching-temperature measurements, and time-dependent electrical relaxation. Repeated thermal cycling was performed over a controlled temperature range, followed by quantitative analysis of the thermoluminescence intensity, peak position, retained state, and relaxation kinetics. The results show a progressive reduction in the thermoluminescence response with increasing cycle number, accompanied by a shift of the dominant emission maximum toward higher temperature. After ten cycles, the normalized peak and integrated thermoluminescence intensities decreased to 0.842 and 0.790, respectively. The thermal-memory response increased with maximum treatment temperature, reaching approximately −0.16, −0.27, and −0.38 at 350, 375, and 400 K, respectively. Electrical relaxation measurements revealed a decrease in the characteristic relaxation time from approximately 1750 to 760 min as the maximum treatment temperature increased. Heating-rate measurements demonstrated a systematic shift of the thermally stimulated current maximum, while Arrhenius analysis yielded an effective activation energy of approximately 0.355 ± 0.003 eV. eV. The combined results demonstrate that thermal cycling produces a reproducible nonequilibrium state whose magnitude and relaxation depend on thermal history. These findings establish a quantitative experimental framework for assessing thermal memory and defect-mediated relaxation in crystalline solids.
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Copyright (c) 2026 James Whiteker, Rebecca Lawson
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