OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF Y3Al5O12 (100) SINGLE CRYSTALS IRRADIATED WITH HIGH-ENERGY XENON IONS

YAG (Y 3 Al 5 O 12 ) is one of the important optical materials. It is widely used in solid-state lasers, lighting devices as a white LED converter, and in scintillation technology. In this work, YAG (100) single crystals were irradiated with 230 MeV Xe ions to fluences of 6·10 10 –10 13 ion/cm 2 , which allows us to study the behavior of the material in hard radiation fields. The following research methods were used to analyze the irradiated YAG crystals: optical absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Analysis of the absorption spectra shows the formation of color centers in the irradiated YAG samples. The concentration of various types of point defects increases significantly with increasing fluence. The difference spectra reveal overlapping bands in the range of 4.1–5.2 eV, which correspond to different configurations of F 2 centers. With increasing fluence, the surface layer becomes amorphous, and the material is amorphized. High-energy modes of Raman spectra begin to expand already at a fluence of 10 10 ion/cm 2 . Considering the high degree of influence of Xe ions, it can be stated that starting from a fluence of 10 12 ion/cm 2 , all cation-anion bonds are practically destroyed.