Formation of radiation defects in silicate and borosilicate glasses caused by UV lamp and excimer laser irradiation

Solarization of colourless and coloured glasses of the type AR®, BK7® and DURAN® with high transmission in the UV-B region (280 to 320 nm) was investigated for their use as container glasses in the solar disinfection of drinking water. The samples were coloured by doping with NiO or CoO. The influence of the Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ content and of the reducing component Sn 2+ was investigated on both the initial transmission of the glasses and the solarization. The samples were irradiated with a 1 kW Xe lamp and a XeCl excimer laser. The solarization depends on the glass matrix and is enhanced by colouring ions. The influence of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ and Sn 2+ on the defect generation is different for glasses coloured with NiO than for those coloured with CoO. For the samples investigated it was possible to simulate the loss of transmission in the UV-B region due to long-time irradiation with sunlight by a laser experiment.