Twofold co-ordinated Ge defects induced by gamma-ray irradiation in Ge-doped SiO2

Photocycle of point defects in highly- and weakly-germanium doped silica revealed by transient absorption measurements with femtosecond tunable pump

We report pump-probe transient absorption measurements addressing the photocycle of the Germanium lone pair center (GLPC) point defect with an unprecedented time resolution. The GLPC is a model point defect with a simple and well-understood electronic structure, highly relevant for several applications. Therefore, a full explanation of its photocycle is fundamental to understand the relaxation mechanisms of such molecular-like systems in solid state. The experiment, carried out exciting the sample resonantly with the ultraviolet (UV) GLPC absorption band peaked at 5.1 eV, gave us the possibility to follow the defect excitation-relaxation dynamics from the femto-picosecond to the nanosecond timescale in the UV–visible range. Moreover, the transient absorption signal was studied as a function of the excitation photon energy and comparative experiments were conducted on highly- and weakly-germanium doped silica glasses. The results offer a comprehensive picture of the relaxation dynamics of GLPC and allow observing the interplay between electronic transitions localized on the defect and those related to bandgap transitions, providing a clear evidence that the role of dopant high concentration is not negligible in the earliest dynamics.

Photoactivated processes in optical fibers: generation and conversion mechanisms of twofold coordinated Si and Ge atoms

In this work we present an extensive investigation of nanoscale physical phenomena related to oxygen-deficient centers (ODCs) in silica and Ge-doped silica by means of first-principles calculations, including nudged-elastic band, electron paramagnetic resonance parameters calculations, and many-body perturbation theory (GW and Bethe-Salpeter equation) techniques. We show that by neutralizing positively charged oxygen monovacancies we can obtain model structures of twofold Si and Ge defects of which the calculated absorption spectra and singlet-to-triplet transitions are in excellent agreement with the experimental optical absorption and photo-luminescence data. In particular we provide an exhaustive analysis of the main exciton peaks related to the presence of twofold defects including long-range correlation effects. By calculating the reaction pathways and energy barriers necessary for the interconversion, we advance a double precursory origin of the [Formula: see text] and Ge(2) centers as due to the ionization of neutral oxygen monovacancies (Si-Si and Ge-Si dimers) and as due to the ionization of twofold Si and Ge defects. Furthermore two distinct structural conversion mechanisms are found to occur between the neutral oxygen monovacancy and the twofold Si (and Ge) atom configurations. Such conversion mechanisms allow to explain the radiation induced generation of the ODC(II) centers, their photobleaching, and also their generation during the drawing of optical fibers.

Gamma-ray radiation response at 1550 nm of fluorine-doped radiation hard single-mode optical fiber

We have investigated gamma-ray radiation response at 1550 nm of fluorine-doped radiation hard single-mode optical fiber. Radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) of the optical fiber was measured under intermittent gamma-ray irradiations with dose rate of ~10 kGy/h. No radiation hardening effect on the RIA by the gamma-ray pre-dose was found when the exposed fiber was bleached for long periods of time (27~47 days) at room-temperature. Photo-bleaching scheme upon 980 nm LD pumping has proven to be an effective deterrent to the RIA, particularly by suppressing the incipient RIA due to room-temperature unstable self-trapped hole defects (STHs). Large temperature dependence of the RIA of the optical fiber together with the photo-bleaching effect are worthy of note for reinforcing its radiation hard characteristics.

Influence of electron irradiation on optical properties of Bismuth doped silica fibers

We report a study of the attenuation spectra transformations for a series of Bismuth (Bi) doped silica fibers with various contents of emission-active Bi centers, which arise as the result of irradiation by a beam of high-energy electrons. The experimental data reveal a substantial decrease of concentration of the Bi centers, associated with the presence of Germanium in silica glass, at increasing the irradiation dose (the resonant-absorption bleaching effect in germano-silicate fiber). In contrast, the spectral changes that appear in Bi doped alumino-silicate fiber have through irradiation a completely different character, viz., weak growth of the resonant-absorption peaks ascribed to the Bi centers, associated with the presence of Aluminum in silica glass. These results demonstrating high susceptibility of Bi centers to electron irradiation while opposite routes of the irradiation-induced spectral changes in Bi doped germanate and aluminate fibers seem to be of worth notice for understanding the nature of these centers.