Preliminary results of window radiation resistance investigations

Abstract Single α-Al 2 O 3 crystals and three types of commercial silica glasses were irradiated with electrons, α-rays and neutrons in order to examine the effect of the irradiation conditions on the change of the optical properties. The transmission coefficients in the wavelength range 200–800 nm were measured after irradiation up to a dose of 8.0 MGy at a mean dose rate from 2.8 Gy/s to 1 kGy/s. The transmission of α-Al 2 O 3 after electron and γ-ray irradiation decreases mostly in the UV region due to the creation of color centers in α-Al 2 O 3 on pre-irradiation defects. There are also presented data on change of transmission of silica glasses with different content of OH groups after and during irradiation.