Studies on proton irradiation-induced modifications of KU1 and KS-4V quartz glasses ultraviolet transmission properties

KU1 and KS-4V quartz glasses, known to be radiation-resistant insulator materials, are potential candidates for manufacturing diagnostics windows and optical fibres for ITER. KU1 and KS-4V quartz glass samples were irradiated with 12.6 and 14 MeV protons, respectively, at the Bucharest Tandem accelerator to simulate ionization and displacement damage and study the ultraviolet (UV) transmission properties modification. The proton irradiations produce absorption bands in KU1 at 215 and 265 nm, and in KS-4V at 215 and 245 nm, which saturate by about 10 MGy. This behaviour is very similar to results obtained for gamma, electron, and neutron irradiations, highlighting the importance of ionization, and indicating that proton irradiations may be used to simulate low dose neutron (⩽1020 n/m2) irradiations.