Retarded elasticity in B2O3GeO2 glasses

The retarded elasticity was investigated for B₂O₃GeO₂ glasses having network structure in the glass transition range by using a compressive method. The compliance (J_∞) determined at the final stage of each measurement displayed a maximum for roughly constant viscosity (η ? 10¹⁴ P) in all the B₂O₃GeO₂ glasses and was simulated by the same equation applied for AsS glasses reported in a previous paper [1].

$\text{J}{}_{\mathrm{\infty }}\text{=(1?k}{}_2\text{keta;}{}_{\mathrm{G}}\text{keta;}\text{)[?}{}_1\text{(}\text{k}{}_1\text{keta;}\text{)+?}{}_2\text{(}\text{nk}{}_1\text{keta;}\text{)]}$

, where $\text{K}{}_1\text{, k}{}_2\text{, ?}{}_1\text{, ?}{}_2\text{and}\text{n}$ are parameters and η_G is the viscosity related to the retarded elasticity. The terms (k₁/η) and (nk₁/η) are assumed to be equal to one for all their values exceeding one. For B₂O₃GeO₂ glasses, the deformation due to the retarded elasticity could be alloted to two structural elements: the first element related to the term $\text{?}{}_1\text{(k}{}_1\text{/η)}$ and the second element related to the term $\text{?}{}_2\text{(nk}{}_1\text{/η)}$. The values of $\text{?}{}_1$ showed almost no variance with the glass composition, but $\text{?}{}_2$ had a minimum at the composition of 50 mol% GeO₂. These data suggest that the contribution of the second element is the smallest at B₂O₃/GeO₂ = 1. The values of k₂ were close to that of As₂S₃ glass having the network structure. k₁ and n (or nk₁) were almost constant regardless of the composition, respectively. These data suggest that the inhibition due to the viscosity starts at an approximately constant viscosity in B₂O₃GeO₂ glasses.