Effect of melting atmospheres on the optical property of radiation-hard fluorophosphate glass

High-energy radiation in space and nuclear irradiation environment induces colour centres in optical glass, causing solarisation, and a serious condition can render optical systems and optical loads unusable. To develop space radiation-resistant optical glass, CeO₂-stabilised radiation-hard fluorophosphate glass was prepared under three different atmospheres (nitrogen, oxygen, and ambient air). The glass-melting atmospheres' effects on the glass's transmission, defect formation, and structural changes before and after exposure to gamma radiation were investigated by a comprehensive study on their transmittance, absorption, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra. Introducing a small amount of CeO₂ (～0.34 wt%) into the fluorophosphate base glass converted NBO and BO into ABO in the glass network, red-shifted the UV absorption edge, and decreased the optical density increment by almost half after radiation. As the total dose of gamma radiation increased, the transmittance of the irradiated glass at a wavelength of 385 nm significantly increased due to absorption of POHC2 defects. After exposure to 250 k of rad gamma irradiation, the corresponding optical density increment per centimeter thickness at 385 nm of the radiation-hard fluorophosphate glass that melted in the nitrogen, oxygen, and air atmospheres decreased from 1.839 to 1.388 and 1.215. As it melted in air, the NBO ratio of the fluorophosphate glass reached the lowest level and the Ce⁴⁺ ratio in the glass was 92.49%, which helped suppress the generation of POHC, Fe³⁺, PO₄-EC, and PO₃-EC defects during the gamma irradiation process, improving the glass's radiation resistance.