Oxide glass structure evolution under swift heavy ion irradiation

• Structure of SHI irradiated glass is similar to the one of a hyper quenched glass.
• D2 Raman band associated to 3 members ring is only observed in irradiated glass.
• Irradiated state seems slightly different to an equilibrated liquid quenched rapidly.

The effects of ion tracks on the structure of oxide glasses were examined by irradiating a silica glass and two borosilicate glass specimens containing 3 and 6 oxides with krypton ions (74 MeV) and xenon ions (92 MeV). Structural changes in the glass were observed by Raman and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy using a multinuclear approach (11B, 23Na, 27Al and 29Si). The structure of irradiated silica glass resembles a structure quenched at very high temperature. Both borosilicate glass specimens exhibited depolymerization of the borosilicate network, a lower boron coordination number, and a change in the role of a fraction of the sodium atoms after irradiation, suggesting that the final borosilicate glass structures were quenched from a high temperature state. In addition, a sharp increase in the concentration of three membered silica rings and the presence of large amounts of penta- and hexacoordinate aluminum in the irradiated 6-oxide glass suggest that the irradiated glass is different from a liquid quenched at equilibrium, but it is rather obtained from a nonequilibrium liquid that is partially relaxed by very rapid quenching within the ion tracks.