Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy was used to investigate the irradiation-sensitive defect structure of ultra-pure synthetic quartz at 295 and 80K. The cathodoluminescence emissions were attributed to particular defect centers. Insight was obtained into defect formation, and into a subsequent electromigration which resulted from trapped-charge induced electric fields after irradiation with a stationary continuous electron beam. The cathodoluminescence emissions were associated with a non-bridging O hole center or a trapped-electron Si3- center (1.91eV), with a non-bridging O hole center with an OH precursor (1.95eV), with the radiative recombination of the self-trapped exciton in irradiation-induced amorphous out-growths (2.28eV), with an extrinsic process (2.46eV), with the radiative recombination of the self-trapped exciton that was associated with the E1’ center in amorphous SiO2 (2.72eV), with an additional component at 80K that was due to the radiative recombination of the self-trapped exciton that was associated with the E2’ center (2.69eV), with an intrinsic process (2.95eV), and with the charge-compensated substitutional Al center (3.12eV).

M.A.S.Kalceff, M.R.Phillips: Physical Review B, 1995, 52[5], 3122-34