Effect of X-ray from a small plasma focus on colorless synthetic corundumR.MongkolnavinauthorD.NgamrungrojauthorC.LeeviriyalardauthorC. S.WongauthorA preliminary investigation on effect of X-ray on colorless synthetic corundum has been carried out. The X- ay used was generated from a small 3 kJ UNU/ICTP Plasma Focus device. The X-ray produced by the focusing plasma was measured by using four channels PIN diode spectrometer. The spectral content of the X-ray and the plasma electron temperature were obtained by a ratio method. The electron temperature was deduced to be 1.9 keV. The color of the corundum changed to yellow-brown after an exposure with the X-ray. The intensity of the color varied with the number of focusing and non-focusing shot applied to the samples. UV-VIS-NIR Spectrometer was used to test the photo-absorption of the treated corundum. The experimental results show that the color change is not caused by a known Rayleigh’s scattering process. This color change is non-permanent and can be reverted to its initial state by thermal annealing process. Q Science, Computer Science2004Malaysian Institute of Physics (IFM)Journal