Evolution of the glow of an aerogel irradiated with a high-power pulse electron beam

The evolution of the glow of the energy-release zone in porous transparent aerogel, with a density of 0.03–0.25 g/cm³, which is irradiated by a high-power pulse electron beam, is studied experimentally. In addition to a fast (τ≤τ_beam) and a luminescent (τ≈10⁻⁶ s) glow components, a slow glow component (τ≈2×10⁻⁵ s) has been revealed. The appearance of this slow component is associated with an aerogel rarefaction wave and its destruction (cracking) arising after its isochoric bulk heating by electron radiation, which may occur due to an electrostatic field induced under irradiation. The discovered glow is utilized to visually determine the current position of the rarefaction wave front. The sound velocity measured as a function of the density of SiO₂ aerogels with porosities of 10–100 allowed us to experimentally determine the percolation parameter of the aerogel equation of state.