H. Hosono et al., Physical disorder and optical properties in the vacuum ultraviolet region of amorphous SiO2 - art. no. 175501, PHYS REV L, 8717(17), 2001, pp. 5501
The optical absorption of point-defect-free SiO2 glass in the vacuum ultrav
iolet region is primarily controlled by the concentrations of three- and fo
ur-membered ring structures composed of heavily strained Si-O-Si bonds. The
main channel of color center formation by F-2 excimer laser (7.9 eV) irrad
iation is not Frenkel-defect generation of oxygen via two-photon absorption
processes but a pair generation of E' and nonbridging oxygen hole centers
by the one-photon excitation of these strained bonds with 7.9 eV photons.