Diffusion of He, Ne, and Ar in Vitreous and Partially Devitrified Germani um Dioxide

Abstract

Abstract The diffusion coefficients of He, Ne, and Ar in various samples of GeO2 and approximate values for the corresponding solubility coefficients were obtained from nonisothermal and isothermal desorption experiments. The data show trends similar to those obtained on fused SiO2 , and are interpreted by assuming that the glasses contain many interstices of different critical dimensions and a variety of diffusion paths corresponding to a range of activation energies. Some annealed and partially devitrified samples were studied and the activation energies of diffusion were found to be relatively high. In a few cases, the measurements were extended into and above the glass transition range (∼570°) ; the resulting activation energy and the preexponential factor of the Arrhenius equation for the diffusion coefficient were markedly increased, indicating that the diffusion mechanism is probably drastically changed.