2025/09/30 by Moldarev, Dmitrii, Tran, Tuan T., Wolff, Max +1
#Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.25887
The kinetics of the photochromic reaction of oxygen-containing rare-earth hydrides is commonly described by an exponential function assuming a single-step process. In this paper, we elaborate on the origin of the photochromic effect in oxygen-containing rare-earth metal hydrides, considering the kinetics of the reaction as a two-step process. We show that the fit to the experimental data is improved drastically when two processes that cause the photodarkening are assumed: a fast reaction rate-limited - for example, electronic or local - process and a slow, e.g. diffusion-limited process.