Investigation of optical and radiation properties of oxygen deficient silica glasses

The deficiency of oxygen in pure silica manifests an absorption band at 5 eV as well as an absorption band of higher intensity at 7.6 eV. The band at 5 eV is associated with lone twofold-coordinated silicon centers. The nature of the main band at 7.6 eV has been studied using silica samples with different levels of oxygen deficiency. The excitation via the 7.6 eV band produces a photoelectric response as well as inner center and recombination type luminescence. Two main luminescence bands of the twofold-coordinated silicon center appear: a blue band (2.7 eV) and a UV band (4.4 eV). Induced absorption with several bands as well as thermally stimulated luminescence with complex peak structure were observed. Analyzing these data, the nature of the 7.6 eV band cannot be ascribed to a lone point defect, rather, it can be ascribed to the localized states of the disordered structure of silica modified by an oxygen deficit.