Radiation effects in glasses

Abstract Charged particle irradiation of glasses introduces network damage and alters the chemical composition. Compositional modifications are due to internal electric field formation and/or to sputtering processes, connected to different stopping power regimes (electronic or nuclear). In this paper we discuss the observed alkali migration, in alkali containing glasses, induced by electrons, protons and heavy-mass ion bombardment on the basis of phenomenological models. Particular emphasis is placed on the evidence of cooperative effects and enhanced-diffusion processes, analyzed in terms of the Onsager formalism in the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. Correlation between the alkali sputtering cross-section and the stopping power regimes of incident particles will be presented.