Ytterbium-doped silica fiber (YDF) has important applications in material processing and scientific research. The photodarkening (PD) effect, which originates from the formation of color centers, can decrease the laser output power over 1,000 h by about 10% and will seriously restrict the power stability of the fiber laser. However, the nature of the PD color centers has not been adequately elucidated until now.
Click here for original story, Ultraviolet laser induces color centers in ytterbium-doped silica glasses
Source: Phys.org