Optical absorption and emission studies of 2 MeV Cu-implanted silica glass

It has been found that the chemical state of implanted ions in SiO2 depends on local concentration and on the transport process of the implanted element. In this work we report the optical properties of high-energy Cu-implanted silica glass. 2MeV Cu+ ions were implanted at room temperature (RT) in silica glass at fluences of 0.7, 3.0 and 5.0 x 10(16) ions/cm(2). The absorption spectra of the as-implanted samples indicated the formation of B-2 centers, but no Cu nanoparticles were formed. The photoluminescence CPL) spectra for excitation at 280 nm exhibited broad bands at 410 and 550 nm, associated with the presence of Cu+ ions in the as-implanted samples. We discuss the effect of thermal annealing in air on the absorption and the emission spectra of these Cu-implanted samples, as well as the formation of copper nanoclusters from original Cu+ ions. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.