Investigation of the Effect of Radiation and High-Temperature Treatment on the x-Ray Luminescence of Quartz Glasses

Abstract

The x-ray luminescence of KI, KV, and KU-1 quartz glasses, irradiated with γ and n–γ radiation in the dose range 102–107 Gy and neutron fluence range 1015–1017 cm–2 and subjected to high-temperature annealing in air at 450 and 900°C is investigated. It is shown that the spectra of the nonirradiated and the γ and n–γ irradiated glasses of the first two types are a superposition of bands with λmax = 410 and 460 nm, which are due to an impurity center initially present in the glasses (λmax = 410 nm) and the initial and radiation-generated with dose ≥106 Gy and fluence ≥1016 cm–2E' centers (λmax = 460 nm). X-Ray luminescence is not observed in nonirradiated KU-1 glasses; a band with λmax = 460–470 nm, due to radiation-generated E' centers, appears in the spectra of γ and n–γ irradiated glasses. As the γ radiation dose and the neutron fluence increase, the number of impurity centers decreases and the number of E' centers increases. It is established that the 410 nm band is due to the γ component of the n–γ radiation. High-temperature annealing in air at 900°C induces in the spectra new bands with λmax = 470 and 520–540 nm, which are believed to be due to interstitial defects of the type O– and O2–, formed when oxygen from air diffuses into the glass and localizes in interstices. 6 figures, 7 references.