Temperature dependence of the lifetime of 4.3-eV photoluminescence in oxygen-deficient amorphous SiO2

The temperature dependence of the lifetime of 4.3-eV photoluminescence (PL) excited by three PL excitation bands in oxygen-deficient amorphous silica has been investigated in the range of 13-280 K. When the PL is excited at t he 5.0- or 6.7-eV band, it decays single exponentially with a constant Life time of about 4 ns irrespective of temperature. On the other hand, PL excit ed at 7.3 eV decays nonexponentially, and its effective lifetime monotonica lly decreases with an increase in temperature. Such a temperature dependenc e of the PL lifetime is explained by assuming an energy diagram involving t wo configurations of the oxygen-deficient defect. [S0163-1829(99)06604-7].