Delocalized Nature of theEδ′Center in Amorphous Silicon Dioxide

Abstract

We report an experimental study by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of E(')(delta) point defect induced by gamma-ray irradiation in amorphous SiO2. We obtained an estimation of the intensity of the 10 mT doublet characterizing the EPR spectrum of such a defect arising from hyperfine interaction of the unpaired electron with a 29Si (I=1/2) nucleus. Moreover, determining the intensity ratio between this hyperfine doublet and the main resonance line of E(')(delta) center, we pointed out that the unpaired electron wave function of this center is actually delocalized over four nearly equivalent silicon atoms.