Modeling of excimer laser radiation induced defect generation in fluoride phosphate glasses

Abstract

Fluoride phosphate (FP) glasses with low phosphate content are high-transparent in the deep ultraviolet (UV) range and attractive candidates for UV-optics. Their optical properties are complementary to fluoride crystals. The anomalous partial dispersion makes them desirable for optical lens designs to reduce the secondary spectrum. Their UV transmission is limited by trace impurities introduced by raw materials and decreases when exposed to UV-radiation (lamps, lasers). The experiments of the paper published previously in this journal were used in order to separate radiation induced absorption bands in the fluoride phosphate glass FP10. In this paper the generation mechanism of the phosphorus–oxygen related hole center POHC 2 is investigated in detail in glasses of various compositions (various phosphate and impurity contents) in order to predict the transmission loss in case of long-time irradiation. Experiments were carried out using ArF- and KrF-excimer lasers (ns-pulses). POHC 2 generation strongly depends on the phosphate content and on the content of Pb 2+. A model was developed on these terms. Rate equations are formulated, incorporating the influence of the Pb 2+-content on the defect generation, a two-step creation term including an energy transfer process and a one-photon bleaching term. This results in a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations. Absorption coefficients and lifetimes of the excited states were calculated as well. Experimental results compared well with the numerical analysis of the theoretical rate equations.