The Influence of Irradiation on the Microhardness
and Photoluminescence of SiO₂

M. A. Mussaeva, M. U. Kalanov, E. M. Ibragimova, and M. I. Muminov

Institute of Nuclear Physics, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, pos. Ulugbek, Tashkent, 702132 Uzbekistan

e-mail: mmukhtar@yandex.ru, e-mail: mukhtar@inp.uz

Received November 8, 2004

Abstract—The microhardness and photoluminescence spectra excited with 337-nm laser radiation in commer-
cial SiO₂ glasses (UV windows, substrates with BaTiO₃ film coatings) exposed to ⁶⁰Co gamma radiation and a
mixed neutron flux from the reactor are investigated. It is revealed that initial samples contain nanocrystalline
phases. An increase in the microhardness and the intensity of the excitonic UV luminescence due to ⁶⁰Co
gamma irradiation and the quenching of the photoluminescence associated with the nonbridging oxygen centers
result from healing of Si–O dangling bonds and microcracks in the surface layer at the nanocrystal–glass matrix
and substrate–coating interfaces. It is demonstrated that reactor irradiation leads to the phase transformation of
SiO₂ cristobalite into tridymite and BaO into BO₂, as well as to the decomposition of BaTiO₃ and BaCO₃. This
brings about a decrease in the microhardness and photoluminescence quenching.

DOI: 10.1134/S108765960605004X

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