Luminescence of silica glass containing aluminum oxide

Optical properties of silica glass with different doping of Al2O3 up to 1.5 mol% were studied. Alumina stimulates creation of a luminescence centers with specific band at 3.3 eV. A new band at 8.2 eV appears in luminescence excitation spectra. There is transport of energy to other luminescence centers associated with an impurity (Ag, Ce) at this energy. Alumina stimulates creation of E′ centers under γ-irradiation beside trapped hole on AlO4 tetrahedron as well as creation of a silicon related oxygen deficient center (SiODC) under cathodoexcitation. Visually, the samples look inhomogeneous even after γ-irradiation. The explanation could be heterogeneity of the samples. Alumina doped samples contain alkali ions, which were revealed with the use of silver exchange electrolysis experiments.