Abstract

We report the generation of color centers in yttria (Y₂O₃) stabilized cubic zirconia (ZrO₂) by 532-nm radiation. Oxygen ion vacancies exist in yttria stabilized cubic zirconia¹ and can trap electrons forming F⁺ centers. We observed permanent changes in transmission after irradiating the sample at high irradiance with 532-nm pulses of 40-ps to 20-ns (FWHM) duration. In this case valence band electrons are generated by two-photon absorption and are trapped by the oxygen ion vacancies. The induced color centers are long-lived with a measured lifetime of ~2 h at room temperature. These defects and thus the absorption can be bleached by repetitively irradiating at low irradiance at the same wavelength.

© 1987 Optical Society of America