Defects induced in fluorides and oxides by VUV radiation

Irradiation effects of monochromatic VUV were studied in some broad band crystals such as alkaline-earth and perovskite-type fluorides as well as metal oxides. The irradiations were carried out at RT and at LNT and the thermal stability of some radiation-induced defects was studied. Results were compared to effects induced in the same samples by X or β radiation. The various types of investigated crystals showed some interesting common properties. In most materials, essentially the same main TL peaks and with the same thermal activation energies appeared after VUV as after X or β irradiation, indicating that the same traps were induced by the different irradiations. The TL excitation spectra in the various types of crystals generally showed maxima at the long wavelength tail of the fundamental absorption; this fits previous results in various alkali halides. Dosimetric properties and possible application of the materials as dosimeters for the VUV were also investigated.