Crystallization statistics. A new tool to evaluate glass homogeneity

We propose and test a new method to evaluate the chemical homogeneity of glasses based on statistical analyses of the volume distribution of crystals developed through thermal treatments. The method is based on the fact that each volume element of a glass piece subjected to a proper thermal treatment should exhibit a certain number of crystals, which is dictated by its chemical composition. We performed numerical simulations to interpret the experimental results obtained for some glasses, and demonstrate that this new method is adequate to determine the degree and scale of heterogeneity of glasses that display volume crystallization.