193 nm excimer laser-induced color centers in Yb3+/Al3+/P5+-doped silica glasses

•High-purified, large-size and homogeneous doping glass samples were prepared using sol-gel method combined with high-temperature sintering, which ensures the accuracy and convenience of performance and structure tests.•The nature of color centers caused by 193 nm laser radiation in Yb3+/Al3+/P5+-doped silica glasses was studied systematically by CW-EPR, absorption and in-situ photoluminescence spectroscopy.•The mechanism of color centers formation was correlated with the glass microscopic structure, which is obtained by solid state NMR.