Effect of oxygen deficiency on the radiation sensitivity of sol-gel Ge-doped amorphous SiO2

We report experimental investigation by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements of room temperature γ-ray irradiation effects in sol-gel Ge doped amorphous SiO₂. We used materials with Ge content from 10 up to 10⁴ part per million (ppm) mol obtained with different preparations. These latter gave rise to samples characterized by different extents of oxygen deficiency, estimated from the absorption band at ~5.15 eV of the Ge oxygen deficient centers (GeODC(II)). The irradiation at doses up to ~400 kGy induces the E'-Ge, Ge(1) and Ge(2) paramagnetic centers around g ~ 2 with concentrations depending on Ge and on GeODC(II) content. We found correlation between Ge(2) and GeODC(II) contents, supporting the suggestion that the latter defect is the precursor of Ge(2). Even if the concentration of E'-Ge and Ge(1) defects cannot be strictly related to GeODC(II) one, the concentration growth of these paramagnetic defects with irradiation evidences that the radiation sensitivity is enhanced by the oxygen deficiency for Ge doping above 1000 ppm mol and it is reduced below 100 ppm mol. Moreover, the investigation of samples with different GeODC(II) concentration but fixed Ge content has shown that the oxygen deficiency enhances the overall radiation sensitivity for GeODC(II)]/Ge] in the range 10^-3 10^-2.