Near-surface nucleation and crystallization of an ion-implanted lithia-alumina-silica glass

Abstract

Surface crystallization of a Au⁺‐ion‐implanted lithia‐alumina‐silica glass has been realized. Annealing of a glass sample implanted with 285‐keV Au⁺ ions at 550 °C results in the growth of colloidal Au particles of 18–35‐Å radius. The Au particles constitute sites for the precipitation of lithium metasilicate crystals at 550 °C. Further annealing at 750 °C allows the growth of quartz and β‐spodumene crystals. The crystallized surface obtained after the high‐temperature anneal was characterized by a Knoop microhardness number of 626, which is of the order of that obtained for commerical volume‐crystallized glass‐ceramics of similar composition.