CORRELATION OF SILICA GLASS PROPERTIES WITH THE INFRARED-SPECTRA

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy has been used to interpret structural chang es in silica glasses, Specifically, a shift of the Si-O stretching ban d in IR spectra is used to monitor changes in average Si-O-Si bond ang le in the glass structure. A similar structural change is induced by t he change of fictive temperature, hydrostatic pressure or compressive stress, with the average Si-O-Si bond angle decreasing with the increa se of these parameters. It is anticipated that these similar structura l changes would produce a similar change in glass properties. In order to confirm this expectation, HF etch rates of silica glasses were mea sured as a function of fictive temperature and stress. The experimenta l results on HF etch rates, together with changes in other glass prope rties in the literature, were compared with the change in glass struct ure revealed by IR spectroscopy. It was found that the similar structu ral change is accompanied by the consistent changes in a variety of gl ass properties. Monitoring the IR spectra of a silica glass sample, th erefore, can be used to deduce changes in glass properties.