Irradiation effects on glasses containing ZnO as emission centers

ZnO-based silicate glasses are studied in the present paper. Irradiation resistance of glass samples is tested under the /sup 60/Co /spl gamma/-ray radiation at the doses of 71 and 262 Gy. Ultraviolet and visible transmission spectra of glass samples are compared before and after irradiation treatment. Test results show that radiation damage of ZnO-based glasses increases with dose while the glass with the Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ donor dopants exhibits improved radiation resistance. The latter can be correlated to bandgap broadening effect due to Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ doping in the ZnO-based glass and to the role of Al/sup 3+/ as the network intermediate to enter partially the tetrahedral structure of silicate glass.