Glass Hardness Modification by Means of Ion Implantation: Electronic Doping versus Surface Composition Effect

J Ide and D Cornil and A Jacques and B Navet and P Boulanger and L Ventelon and R Lazzaroni and D Beljonne and J Cornil, ADVANCED THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, 2, 1900039 (2019).

DOI: 10.1002/adts.201900039

Critical load measurements point to an improvement in the hardness of a soda-lime glass upon nitrogen implantation. In order to determine whether this improvement originates from electronic doping or surface composition changes induced by ion implantation, a theoretical approach using quantum-chemical and force-field methods combined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is performed. The results indicate that neither an electronic effect nor a lattice distortion appear to be the primary cause of the hardness improvement. It is rather a change in the surface composition leading to a more densely cross-linked and stiffer silica network at the top surface of the glass which is at the origin of this improvement.

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