Cathodoluminescence microcharacterization of forsterite in the chondrule experimentally grown under super cooling

Cathodoluminescence (CL) of laboratory forsterite chondrules has been characterized to clarify the formation process of chondrules and related mechanism of the crystal growth in a supercooled melt. Color CL image of the experimentally grown forsterite exhibits significant blue luminescence in the main branches of the interior structure of lab-chondrule, which reflects to the anisotropy of crystallization. A new CL band centered at 450–525 nm (2.76–2.36 eV) in blue to green region might be assigned to a microdefect-related center, which is a diagnostic peak for the forsterite that was formed due to the rapid growth as high as ∼10 mm/s or higher from a supercooled melt.