Character of the reaction between molecular hydrogen and silicon dangling bond in amorphous SiO_2

The passivation by diffusing H2 of silicon dangling bond defects (E' centers, induced by laser irradiation in amorphous SiO_2 (silica), is investigated in situ at several temperatures. It is found that the reaction between E' center and H_2 requires an activation energy of 0.38eV, and that its kinetics is not diffusion-limited. The results are compared with previous findings on the other fundamental paramagnetic point defect in silica, the non bridging oxygen hole center, which features completely different reaction properties with H_2. Besides, a comparison is proposed with literature data on the reaction properties of surface E' centers, of E' centers embedded in silica films, and with theoretical calculations. In particular, the close agreement with the reaction properties of surface E' centers with H_2 leads to conclude that the bulk and surface E' varieties are indistinguishable from their reaction properties with molecular hydrogen.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Chem.

Hydrogen-Related Conversion Processes of Ge-Related Point Defects in Silica Triggered by UV Laser Irradiation

The conversion processes of Ge-related point defects triggered in amorphous SiO2 by 4.7eV laser exposure were investigated. Our study has focused on the interplay between the (=Ge•-H) H(II) center and the twofold coordinated Ge defect (=Ge••). The former is generated in the post-irradiation stage, while the latter decays both during and after exposure. The post-irradiation decay kinetics of =Ge•• is isolated and found to be anti-correlated to the growth of H(II), at least at short times. From this finding it is suggested that both processes are due to trapping of radiolytic H0 at the diamagnetic defect site. Furthermore, the anti-correlated behavior is preserved also under repeated irradiation: light at 4.7eV destroys the already formed H(II) centers and restore their precursors =Ge••. This process leads to repeatability of the post-irradiation kinetics of the two species after multiple laser exposures. A comprehensive scheme of chemical reactions explaining the observed post-irradiation processes is proposed and tested against experimental data.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Bleaching of optical activity induced by UV Laser exposure in natural silica

We report experimental data on two types of natural silica, differing for their OH content, irradiated with UV photons (4.66 eV) from a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Irradiation induces a reduction of the absorption band at 5.12eV and of the associated emissions at 3.14eV and 4.28eV, ascribed to twofold coordinated Ge (=Ge'') centers pre-existing in our samples. The bleaching is mainly due to the post-irradiation conversion of =Ge'' into the paramagnetic H(II) center via trapping of a H atom. Comparison with literature data points out the peculiarities of silica with a low Ge concentration as regards UV induced transformations.Comment: Accepted for publication on Journal of Non crystalline solid

H(II) centers in natural silica under repeated UV laser irradiations

We investigated the kinetics of H(II) centers (=Ge'-H) in natural silica under repeated 266nm UV irradiations performed by a Nd:YAG pulsed laser. UV photons temporarily destroy these paramagnetic defects, their reduction being complete within 250 pulses. After re-irradiation, H(II) centers grow again, and the observed recovery kinetics depends on the irradiation dose; multiple 2000 pulses re-irradiations induce the same post-irradiation kinetics of H(II) centers after each exposure cycle. The analysis of these effects allows us to achieve a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the centers during and after laser irradiation.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Non Crystalline Solid

Influence of hydrogen on paramagnetic defects induced by UV laser exposure in natural silica

Diffusion limited reactions of point defects were investigated in amorphous SiO2 exposed to UV laser light. Electron spin resonance and in situ absorption measurements at room temperature evidenced the annealing of E' centers and the growth of H(II) centers both occurring in the post-irradiation stage and lasting a few hours. These transients are caused by reactions involving molecular hydrogen H2, made available by dimerization of radiolytic H0.Comment: Submitted to Physica Status Solid

Stability of E' centers induced by 4.7eV laser radiation in SiO2

The kinetics of E' centers (silicon dangling bonds) induced by 4.7eV pulsed laser irradiation in dry fused silica was investigated by in situ optical absorption spectroscopy. The stability of the defects, conditioned by reaction with mobile hydrogen of radiolytic origin, is discussed and compared to results of similar experiments performed on wet fused silica. A portion of E' and hydrogen are most likely generated by laser-induced breaking of Si-H precursors, while an additional fraction of the paramagnetic centers arise from another formation mechanism. Both typologies of E' participate to the reaction with H_2 leading to the post-irradiation decay of the defects. This annealing process is slowed down on decreasing temperature and is frozen at T=200K, consistently with the diffusion properties of H_2 in silica.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, in press on J. Non cryst. solids (2007

Phase diagram of an Ising model for ultrathin magnetic films

We study the critical properties of a two--dimensional Ising model with competing ferromagnetic exchange and dipolar interactions, which models an ultra-thin magnetic film with high out--of--plane anisotropy in the monolayer limit. In this work we present a detailed calculation of the $(\delta,T)$ phase diagram, $\delta$ being the ratio between exchange and dipolar interactions intensities. We compare the results of both mean field approximation and Monte Carlo numerical simulations in the region of low values of $\delta$, identifying the presence of a recently detected phase with nematic order in different parts of the phase diagram, besides the well known striped and tetragonal liquid phases. A remarkable qualitative difference between both calculations is the absence, in this region of the Monte Carlo phase diagram, of the temperature dependency of the equilibrium stripe width predicted by the mean field approximation. We also detected the presence of an increasing number of metastable striped states as the value of $\delta$ increases.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Anisotropy-based mechanism for zigzag striped patterns in magnetic thin films

In this work we studied a two dimensional ferromagnetic system using Monte Carlo simulations. Our model includes exchange and dipolar interactions, a cubic anisotropy term, and uniaxial out-of-plane and in-plane ones. According to the set of parameters chosen, the model including uniaxial out-of-plane anisotropy has a ground-state which consists of a canted state with stripes of opposite out-of-plane magnetization. When the cubic anisotropy is introduced zigzag patterns appear in the stripes at fields close to the remanence. An analysis of the anisotropy terms of the model shows that this configuration is related to specific values of the ratio between the cubic and the effective uniaxial anisotropy. The mechanism behind this effect is related to particular features of the anisotropy's energy landscape, since a global minima transition as a function of the applied field is required in the anisotropy terms. This new mechanism for zigzags formation could be present in monocrystal ferromagnetic thin films in a given range of thicknesses.Comment: 910 pages, 10 figure