초록
The cause of optical nonlinearity induced in thermally poled silica glass is believed to be the space charge polarization. Since the second order optical nonlinearity (electro-optic effect) can be used in optical switches the optical nonlinearity in silica glass has drawn a large attention. Space charge polarization occurs when an ionic conducting material is subjected to dc electric field by the blocking electrode. Thermal poling performed to induce the optical nonlinearity in silica glass is basically identical to the process generating space charge polarization. As a first step to understand the mechanism of space charge polarization in silica glass hence the induced optical nonlinearity the absorption currents as functions of time were measured for various types of silica glasses and analyzed by the theory of space charge polarization. It was found that the electrical relaxation exhibited a step by the space charge polarization in the relatively long time range and dielectric loss peak showed a maximum at a specific temperature which is depending on type of silica glass. It was turned out that this relaxation might be a cause of nonlinearity in electrical conductivity of silica glass.
