Spatial charge relaxation in glasses poled in the air and argon atmospheres

Abstract

Abstract Thermal poling of a multicomponent silicate glass was performed in air and in argon atmospheres at various voltages, and the temperature dependences of the depolarization currents (TSDC) in the poled glasses were studied. In addition, the concentration profiles of univalent and bivalent cations in subanodic regions of the poled glasses were measured with EDS and SIMS techniques. The difference in the displacements of bivalent ions at poling of the glasses in closed and open anode configurations allowed us to identify “frozen” spatial charge relaxation peaks observed in the TSDC measurements and to relate these peaks to hydrogen and bivalent metal ions relaxation.