Radiation-induced color centers and their inhibition methods in Yb3+-doped silica fibers
Résumé
Yb3+-doped silica fiber (YDF) lasers have important application prospects in space. However, YDFs face various types of harsh ionizing radiation (such as protons, electrons, and γ-rays) during space missions. Radiation-induced darkening (RD), primarily because of the generation of color centers at a microscopic scale, can seriously deteriorate the laser performance of the YDFs. In this review, the nature, formation mechanism, and suppression methods of color centers in YDFs are introduced.