STUDY OF STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN PHOTO-THERMO- REFRACTIVE GLASS BY SAXS AND XRD

Photo-Thermo-Refractive (PTR) glass is a Na2O-ZnO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass doped with Ce, Ag, and F. This is a new phase medium for volume hologram recording by means of photoinduced crystalline phase precipitation. This study applies Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) combined with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for studying of structural changes. Initial glass shows amorphous granules having wide distribution of sizes with maximum at 2 nm. Heat treatment of undoped samples at 520°C produces crystalline NaF with average size of crystals of about 25 nm. Thermal treatment of irradiated samples containing Ce and Ag gives an amorphous phase with diameters around 6-8 nm. (Key words: photo-thermo-refractive glass, volume holograms, structural transformations) 1