Characterization of germanium site distribution in zeolite ITQ-7 by photoluminescence.

Zeolite ITQ-7 containing germanium emits luminescence upon excitation at the wavelength of the absorption maxima; control experiments with amorphous GeO2 and all-silica zeolites indicate that the emission is attributable to Ge atoms occupying framework positions; the emission decays on the nanosecond time scale and it fits to variable proportions of three exponential kinetics, this being compatible with the presence of three families of Ge atoms in the solid.