Abstract
Fourier transformed infrared microreflectance spectroscopy is used to probe and compare the consequences of thermal quenching or ionic implantation on the structure of silica. A linear change in the main structural feature associated with Si-O-Si vibration with fictive temperature (T-f) is observed up to T-f = 1400 degrees C. Ionic implantation is shown to shift the frequency of the main IR Si-O-Si vibration toward much lower wavenumbers, for all deposited energies, indicating that a comparison can be drawn between fictive temperature and irradiation effects. Extrapolating the linear changes in the IR structural bands obtained as a function of T-f for the implanted samples, we show that two structural (nu(TO)) and (nu(B)) contributions are not affected by ionic implantation, as they would be by a unique very high T-f. In the case of ionic implantation, we also evidence the development of some specific structural contributions indicating a depolymerization of silica network. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics.