EELS study of boron coordination in alkali borosilicate glasses under extensive electron irradiation

Author: Yang G.   Möbus G.   Hand R. J.  

Publisher: Society of Glass Technology

ISSN: 0031-9090

Source: Physics and Chemistry of Glasses - European Journal of Glass Science and Technology Part B, Vol.47, Iss.4, 2006-08, pp. : 507-512

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Abstract

Analytical transmission electron microscopy, especially electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), has the potential to extract similar glass structure and glass chemistry information as XAS due to the complementary processes of inelastic electron scattering and x-ray absorption. The main advantage is higher spatial resolution, while the higher irradiation sensitivity to electrons as compared to photons is a drawback. We have studied a series of ternary alkali borosilicate (ABS) glasses with A=Li, Na, K, Cs and constant ratios between R=[A2O]/[B2O3] and K=[SiO2]/[B2O3], in order to follow the trend of tetrahedral versus planar borate fingerprints in the EELS fine structure of the boron-K-edge. We found that Cs glasses are stable under the electron beam, while all other alkali borosilicate glasses suffer from alkali removal which is however not instantaneously linked to BO4 conversion.