Fracture properties of ion-implanted surfaces of silica glasses investigated by Vickers indentation measurements

摘要

Surface properties of crystalline materials changes after ion implantation. Changes of the mechanical properties can be explained by the defects created by the irradiation, and - in case of high doses - by amorphisation of the surface. Present work investigates the effect of implantation on an originally amorphous silica glass material. We have shown that - under our experimental conditions implantation has changed only slightly the hardness and creeping properties of the materials. On the other hand, cracking tendency measured by Vickers indentation cracking statistics has significantly decreased. In amorphous sample the implantation did not induce changes which would alter considerably the plasticity of the material. On the contrary, compressive stress were introduced into the surface layer of the material by the implants wedged into the spatial network of the glass, increasing the load necessary to induce cracking of the sample.