• journal_title：The Canadian Mineralogist
• Contributor：Rositsa Titorenkova ; Biliana Gasharova ; Boriana Mihailova ; Ludmil Konstantinov
• Publisher：Mineralogical Association of Canada
• Date：2010-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.3749/canmin.48.5.1409
• journal_abbrev：Can Mineral
• issn：0008-4476
• volume：48
• issue：6
• firstpage：1409
• section：Articles

Polarized synchrotron-based attenuated total-reflection infrared (ATR–IR) spectra of crystals of natural zircon of various origins and degree of disorder are reported. We demonstrate the potential of ATR–IR microspectroscopy for non-destructive structural analysis of zircon microcrystals. Disorder-related IR absorption at wavenumbers lower than the bands arising from the fundamental A_2u[ν₃(SiO₄)] and E_u[ν₃(SiO₄)] zircon modes was observed, which reveals the existence of spatial regions with abundant SiO₄ tetrahedra with longer bonds. A pronounced peak near 990 cm⁻¹ is indicative of an abundance of polymerized SiO₄ tetrahedra. Weak signals in the range 1050–1250 cm⁻¹ show connectivity defects (broken Si–O–Zr bridges) and the existence of shorter Si–O bonds.