Raman spectroscopic investigations on UV irradiated phosphate glasses with high content of silver or sodium

Abstract The influence of UV radiation on structural properties of phosphate glasses, with addition of high concentration of silver or sodium was studied by Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that glass synthesis conditions (reducing or oxidizing) influences considerably on glass structure reaction on UV irradiation. The role of additions (silver or sodium) is also studied. It is shown that structural changes in sodium-containing glass after UV irradiation are more manifested, than in silver-containing glasses. The destruction of subnanosized neutral silver molecular clusters under UV irradiation is also observed. The results, obtained for all types of glasses are compared and discussed. For the definition of the influence of silver and sodium atoms on chemical bonds in glass structural units, computer simulation, using density functional theory, was performed.