Atomic scale imaging of amorphous silicate glass surfaces by scanning force microscopy

The determination of the atomic structure of amorphous materials with conventional diffraction techniques is hindered by the missing periodicity of the samples. Consequently, a deeper insight into the structural properties of glasses can only be obtained in real space. In this work AFM investigations of silicate glass surfaces, namely fresh barium silicate and silica glass fracture surfaces, are described. The observed atomic-scale features and arrangements are compared with each other as well as with results from other methods and discussed in the context of classical glass structure theories. The results clearly demonstrate that AFM is able to provide atomically resolved surface structures of amorphous glass surfaces.