Influences of Thermal Annealing Temperatures on Irradiation Induced $E^{\prime}$ Centers in Silica Glass

Abstract

Influences of pre-irradiation and thermal annealing on <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">'</sup> defect concentration are studied by measuring <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">'</sup> centers and optical absorptions using ESR and spectrophotometer, respectively. The results show that the <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">'</sup> defect concentration decreases significantly when silica glass is pre-irradiated by gamma rays and a subsequent thermal annealing. The effect of thermal annealing on the <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">'</sup> concentration has also been investigated for the temperature from 300degC to 1300degC. It is found from the ESR spectrum that the anti-irradiated property of the silica glass can be improved when the thermal annealing temperature is larger than 700degC. These results have been proved by optical absorption spectra.