Generation of a 7.4 mT ESR doublet induced by γ rays in amorphous-SiO2

Paramagnetic defects induced by γ rays, in a dose range from 1 to 1000 Mrad, have been investigated by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy in various types of natural and synthetic silica, having different OH content. A doublet with a field splitting of 7.4 mT, arising from the hyperfine interaction of an unpaired electron with a H nucleus associated with the H(I) center, was detected in all the investigated samples. This ESR structure exhibits a sublinear growth with the γ dose linearly correlated with the γ-induced photoluminescence band at 4.4 eV. The intensity ratio of these two signals depends on the OH content of the sample. Our results agree with a model in which the H(I) center is generated by the reaction between a two-fold coordinated Si and a hydrogen atom activated by the γ-induced breaking of an OH bond