This renewal award will continue support of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute MRG glass science group. Its research is focused on chemical and microstructural aspects of glass stability. Topics of a chemical nature include diffusion of water into glass, dissolution rates of glass in aqueous solutions, rates of attack in seawater, stability of fluoride and chalcogenide IR transmitting glasses, and defects in ion- implanted silica glass. Additional research deals with glass structure: influence of dissolved volatiles on phase separation and phase stability, structural relaxation processes, light scattering and phonon attenuation mechanisms, behavior under high pressure, and effects of nitrogen doping. The collaborative, multi-investigator group includes four faculty from materials engineering, one from physics, and one from geology.
