Conductivity changes produced in ice by optical irradiation 0.8 to 2.7 [mu]

A series of experiments attempt to produce orientational defects and ions by optical injection. The basic experiment was one on transient photo-conduction produced by an intense light pulse. The effects of intensity and wavelength of the incident light, temperature of the sample and area of illumination of the sample were studied. It was concluded that neither orientational defects nor ion pairs were produced in appreciable quantity by the light but that the apparent photo-conduction observed was the result of flash-heating of a thin surface region which had significantly different properties than had the bulk of the sample. Simple and somewhat speculative assumptions regarding the photo-generation process lead to the conclusion that the photo-efficiency, at least for ion pair production, must be very low. (Author).