Photochemical processes induced by 157-nm light in H(2)-impregnated glassy SiO(2):OH

Diffusion and reactions of hydrogen in F2-laser-irradiated SiO2 glass

The diffusion and reactions of hydrogenous species generated by single-pulsed F2 laser photolysis of SiO-H bond in SiO2 glass were studied in situ between 10 and 330 K. Experimental evidence indicates that atomic hydrogen (H0) becomes mobile even at temperatures as low as approximately 30 K. A sizable number of H0 dimerize by a diffusion-limited reaction into molecular hydrogen (H2) that may migrate above approximately 200 K. Activation energies for the diffusion, inherently scattered due to the structural disorder in glass, are separated into three bands centered at approximately 0.1 eV for free H0, approximately 0.2 eV presumably for shallow-trapped H0, and approximately 0.4 eV for H2.

Improvement of the ultraviolet-proof property of silica glass fibers for ArF excimer-laser applications

The effects of preirradiation by ArF excimer laser and thermal annealing on the transmission properties of a silica fiber were investigated. The durability of the fiber when it was exposed to ArF excimer laser irradiation was improved by preirradiation at room temperature and subsequent thermal annealing at 600 degrees C.

Fluorine-doped SiO2 glasses for F2 excimer laser optics: fluorine content and color-center formation

Color-center formation in F-doped, OH-free synthetic SiO(2) glasses by irradiation with F(2) excimer lasers (157 nm) was examined as a function of the F content. The concentration of photoinduced E(') centers was reduced to approximately 1/20 by 1 mol.% F(2) doping and remained almost constant on further doping to 7.3 mol. %. The absorption edge was considerably shifted to a lower wavelength (157.4 nm -->153 nm for a 5-mm-thick sample) by 1-mol. % doping and decreased only slightly on further doping. The intensities of the Raman bands that are due to three- and four-membered ring structures were significantly reduced by 1-mol. % F doping. These results strongly suggest that elimination of strained Si-O-Si bonds by F doping plays a central role in the improvement of radiation resistance of SiO(2) glasses to F(2) laser light.