Disordering effect on electronic mechanism of thermal destruction of GeE'-centers in glassy GeO2

•The thermal destruction process of GeE'-centers is accompanied by electron emission.•Emission parameters sensitive to degree of structural disordering were determined.•Disorder increasing in glassy GeO2 leads to reduction of electron-phonon coupling.

Thermal destruction processes of paramagnetic GeE'-centers in two different types of GeO2 glass have been studied. By investigating the temperature dependence of the electron emission typical of these processes, we found that the electron energy is sensitive to the structural disorder. The obtained results obtained were interpreted within the framework of modified Perel-Karpus model for the ionization of local centers in electric field. It was found that the electron-phonon coupling for GeE'-centers is a parameter that depends on the structure. We have shown that relatively weak electron-phonon coupling and low values of internal electric field are characteristic features of glassy GeO2 with high degree of continual disorder. Thus, the structural disorder, that at least depends on the synthesis conditions, can be considered as an effective tool governing the fundamental and functional properties of the glass.