Exponential structural relaxation of a high purity silica glass

While most other glasses exhibit non-exponential structural relaxation characteristics even when the change of fictive temperature is small, a high purity silica glass exhibited exponential structural relaxation. This was demonstrated by showing that the non-exponential exponent or β value of the KWW function of the high purity silica glass approaches unity when the change of the fictive temperature approaches zero both from higher and lower temperature sides of the heat-treatment temperature. The non-exponentiality of the structural relaxation of this glass when fictive temperature change is finite is due to the change of relaxation time during the structural relaxation.