Structural and optical properties of lithium borate glasses under extreme conditions of ion irradiation

Lithium borate (LBO) glasses of the composition 10LiO(2).90B(2)O(3) were prepared by melt quenching technique and characterized for morphological, structural, and optical properties before and after the exposure to the extreme conditions of 100 MeV Ni ion irradiation. Both the morphological images and structural properties confirm the transformation of LBO glasses from amorphous to polycrystalline nature. This Ni irradiation provides thermal energy that causes the ceramization of glass. The beam interacts with the material where the top layer of the glass remelts, and ultrafast re-solidification occurs after the termination of the ion beams. The Rietveld refinement using the x-ray diffraction data shows that the irradiated LBO possesses a monoclinic crystal structure of lithium pentaborate pentahydrate (B5H10LiO13). The FTIR spectra of Ni ion irradiated glasses show the creation of non-bridging oxygens (NBO) by the formation of BO4 units at the expense of BO3 units. The direct band gap and the Urbach energy of the glasses are affected by the nickel ion irradiation and are in the range 2.73 to 2.55 eV and 0.59 to 0.42 eV. The refractive index also reveals a minor change (1.66 to 1.63). The molar electronic polarizability, metallization criteria, and transmission coefficient were estimated. The coexistence of crystalline and amorphous phases leads to a multiscale phase structure that has multilevel relaxation processes. This is a suitable condition for the improvement of the rheological properties of glass and glass ceramics. Future work involves optimization of the coexistence of these two phases during irradiation.