β-Irradiation effects in Gd-doped borosilicate glasses studied by EPR and Raman spectroscopies

Modifications of Gd-environment in aluminoborosilicate glasses under irradiation have been studied by Raman and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. No detectable effects of Gd2O3 addition on the structural changes under irradiation previously analysed in pure aluminoborosilicate glasses are observed by Raman investigations. On the contrary, the EPR spectra of the studied samples reveal an increase of the content of Gd3+ diluted in network former position relative to Gd3+ diluted in network modifiers one under ionizing radiation. The evolution of the EPR lines appears to result from the reduction processes of Gd3+ into Gd2+ observed both for isolated gadolinium ions and for gadolinium contained in magnetic clusters. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.