The effect of β-irradiation on silicate and aluminoborosilicate
glasses doped with transition metals (TM) and rare earth (RE) elements has
been studied using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), Raman and
luminescence spectroscopy. Irradiation leads to the reduction of both Cr and
Mn ions in both types of glass matrix. It is shown that even small amounts
of TM dopants completely block defect production, as occurs under
irradiation in non-doped glasses. As well, TM doping results in the
disappearance of structural changes in the glass (densification,
polymerization increase and Na migration) for doses of ~ 109 Gy.
Unlike TM-doped matrices, incorporation of RE ions into aluminoborosilicate
glass blocks neither defect production nor structural changes in glass
matrices during irradiation. Simultaneously, we observe a reduction of RE
ions, most clearly demonstrated for Ce4+ ions in aluminoborosilicate
glasses. We propose that the relative stability of the different charge
states of the RE ions is linked to the efficiency of the reduction process,
and therefore to the evolution of the glass structure during irradiation.