Vitreous Silica Distends in Helium Gas: Acoustic Versus Static Compressibilities

Coralie Weigel, Alain Polian, Mathieu Kint, Benoit Rufflé, Marie Foret, René Vacher
2012 Physical Review Letters  
Sound velocities of vitreous silica are measured under He compression in the pressure range 0-6 GPa by Brillouin light scattering. It is found that the well-known anomalous maximum in the pressure dependence of the compressibility is suppressed by He incorporation into the silica network. This shows that the elastic anomaly relates to the collapse of the largest interstitial voids in the structure. The huge difference between the static and the acoustic compressibilities indicates that the amount of incorporated helium still increases at 6 GPa.
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.109.245504 pmid:23368344 fatcat:ri2fkbh4knbytdumz6pqdxdhny