Ultraviolet-visible absorption in highly transparent solids by laser calorimetry and wavelength modulation spectroscopy.

The requirements for low-loss optical materials for use on excimer lasers have stimulated the investigation of optical absorption in a variety of highly transparent materials at visible and uv wavelengths. To provide information over a wide spectral range at low absorption levels ( approximately 10(-5) cm(-1)), laser calorimetric and wavelength modulation spectroscopic techniques were used. Blending these two methods provided, for the first time, spectral information well below the usual levels of absorption measured in studies of the Urbach tail.