In order to understand the physics of radiation-induced proton density deca
y in thin SiO2 films, we performed ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations of t
he potential energy curves for the interaction between model oxide clusters
and H in two charge states. The calculated results led to two separate pro
posed mechanisms for proton density decay in thin SiO2 films: (1) electroni
c excitation involving hot phonon levels of the ground electronic state at
low photon-energy radiation and (2) electron capture by protons at high pho
ton-energy radiation. The proposed mechanisms qualitatively explain recent
experimental observations.