Luminescence and defect formation by visible and near-infrared irradiation of vitreous silica

We report the observation of photoluminescence (PL) originating from defects created by the visible and near-infrared irradiation of vitreous silica. Three PL bands at 283, 468, and 558 nm exhibited excitation spectra peaking at 250 nm, which corresponds to the oxygen vacancy defect ${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$ absorption. The observed PL bands can be attributed to the following transitions: the singlet-singlet transition of oxygen vacancy for 283 nm, and the radiative recombination of separated carriers on the vacancy-interstitial pairs ${(V}_{\mathrm{O}}{;\mathrm{O}}_{i})$ and $({V}_{\mathrm{O}}{;(\mathrm{O}}_{2}{)}_{i})$ for 468 and 558 nm, respectively.