Diffusion of barium in borosilicate glasses containing sodium and calcium was

studied using heavy ion Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (HIRBS) using

30MeV 19F beam. A thin layer (25μg/cm2) of BaCl2 was vacuum evaporated on the

polished surface of the glass samples which were then annealed at 573 to 723K and

subsequently subjected to HIRBS measurements. It was observed that introduction

of 10mol% of calcium in place of sodium results in increase in the activation

energy of diffusion of barium by about 30%. This indicates that alkaline earth ions

retard the diffusion process in borosilicate glass. The results corroborate the data

obtained on diffusion of sodium by radiotracer method. The results were explained

in terms of the increasing rigidity of the glass network with introduction of alkaline

earth ions.

Heavy Ion Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (HIRBS) Study of Barium

Diffusion in Borosilicate Glass. S.Kumar, R.K.Mishra, B.S.Tomar, A.K.Tyagi,

C.P.Kaushik, K.Raj, V.K.Manchanda: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics

Research B, 2008, 266[4], 649-52