Silica glass is a promising optical material in the deep-ultraviolet (DUV, -4.1-6.2 eV or 300-200 nm) to vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV, >-6.2 eV or <-200 nm) region since its optical band gap is located at-8 eV. For such a purpose, it is crucial to control its band-edge transparency and optical resistivity against the intense laser radiation of DUV-VUV excimer lasers (KrF ; 5.0 eV or 248 nm, ArF ; 6.4 eV or 193 nm, F
2 ; 7.9 eV or 157 nm) . The present article reviews our recent studies on silica glasses irradiated with DUV-VUV excimer lasers, including several topics of the improvement of optical transparency by introducing Si-F terminals, the photostructural change of SiOH groups, the formation and annealing kinetics of laser-induced point-defects involving the role of hydrogen, and the application of F-doped glasses to DUV optical fibers.
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