Vol. 30, Issue 4, pp. 677-683

Abstract

We report on the investigations into the kinetics of hydrogen reduction process, and some other reduction-related phenomena in the 0.3 Bi₂O₃ 0.7 SiO₂ glass. Use has been made of the various experimental methods, such as measurements of DC electrical conductivity, MIR, DSC and optical microscopy. The reduction process has been shown to lead to significant changes in the physical properties of the near-surface layer of glasses under consideration. The near-surface layer, originally dielectric, becomes semiconducting. Within the reduced layer a granular structure appears. We suggest that the carrier transport might consist in thermally activated hops between localised centres, which are related to the reduction-induced structural defects.