Corrosion of Glass Windows in DIRC PMTs

The DIRC photon detector contains ∼11,000 photomultipliers (PMTs), which are submerged in ultra-pure water. This note reports on glass corrosion R and D conducted with PMTs in pure water. We conclude that only limited number (∼50) of the PMTs in water are affected by rapid corrosion, while a majority of the 11,000 PMTs should last, according to our measurements, for another ten years. The observation of PMT glass corrosion is based on visual observations, X-ray surface analysis, ESCA surface analysis, weight analysis, transmission measurement, as well as detailed water trace element analysis. We also correlate these observations with DIRC measurements of water pH factor, resistivity, temperature, transmission, and BaBar analysis of Bhabha and di-muon events. We also compare DIRC water purity with that of the Super Kamiokande and K2K experiments, which also use ultra-pure water. We provide empirical proof that corrosion, in our particular Borosilicate type of PMT glass window, occurs at high rate when the glass has no Zn content