Luminescence in SiO2 induced by MeV energy proton irradiation

Ion-induced luminescence was measured at room temperature for SiO2 glasses with different OH concentration during irradiation by protons with 0.2–2 MeV energies. In addition to a prominent peak at 460 nm, characteristic peaks were detected at 390 and 650 nm, depending on the OH contents. For silica glasses with lower OH, the 390 nm luminescence appeared at a low dose and its intensity decreased quickly with an increase of the ion dose. The higher intensity for the 650 nm luminescence, related with the non-bridging oxygen hole centers, was found for higher OH concentration. On the other hand, the luminescence at 460 nm was not efficiently emitted from the silica glasses with higher OH when irradiated by MeV protons with low-electronic energy loss.