Comments on “How to reveal the correct elemental concentration profiles in poled multicomponent silicate glasses from the data of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)”

Abstract In the recent article entitled “How to reveal the correct elemental concentration profiles in poled multicomponent silicate glasses from the data of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS),” a SIMS data treatment is proposed, and is predicated on the assumption of the “true” depth profile for poled glasses having a fixed concentration of network-formers like silicon, under the auspices of such species being “immovable” during poling. Deliberated herein are the assumptions underlying this treatment, and particularly highlighting experimental evidence that should lead one to expect that the volumetric concentration of network-formers like silicon should, in fact, be altered during poling (through effects such as network repolymerization). These points cast serious concerns on the fundamental premise underlying the data treatment.