Abstract

Germanium and silicon oxygen deficient centers (GODC and SODC) play a key role in the phenomenon of photosensitivity of glasses.^1-4 The study of GODC and SODC and their photoreactions is proceeding vigorously,^5-8 but the mechanisms of their phototransformations are far from being understood. The most popular mechanism of primary photoreaction of GODC and SODC is their photoionization.^5,9,10 For SODC the two-step ionization channel was established,^9,10 but for GODC the situation is more complicated. Unfortunately, up to this point there are only a few direct measurements of UV laser induced photocurrent in oxygen deficient glasses,^9,11 which allow clarification of the mechanism of UV photoionization and its real part in the photodecomposition of GODC. We report the results of our direct photocurrent and photoluminescence studies of UV laser excitation and decomposition of defect centers in germanosilicate and silicate glasses.

© 1995 Optical Society of America