On The Analysis of Field-Assisted Ion Diffusion into Glass

Abstract

The process of field-assisted diffusion of ions into glass is analysed theoretically without the introduction of a conventionally used quasi-neutral space-charge approximation. The analysis shows that the quasi-neutral approximation is valid over a wide range of injection rates and processing temperatures. This result, which is of relevance to the manufacture of glass-based optical waveguides by the field-assisted injection of silver or potassium ions, is achieved by analysing the stationary state solution of a model drift-diffusion equation