Study of photochromic silver-containing quartz-like glass using X-ray diffraction methods

Photochromic quartz-like glassess obtained by sintering plates of porous glass, which were successively impregnated with an aqueous solution of silver nitrates with or without the presence of sensitizers (copper or cerium nitrates) and halides (NH 4 Cl, KBr, KI) are studied using the methods of X-ray difraction and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). It is shown that the main crystalline phases in the composition of lightsensitive regions formed in quartz-like glass are AgBr and KBr in the form of nanodimensional crystals with a size of 100–130 Å. The sizes of the scattering regions according to the data of small-angle scattering are amount to 250–300 Å. The temperatures of melting and crystallization of light-sensitive phases are determined from the temperature dependences of the SAXS intensity.