Effects of Composition, Pressure, and Temperature on the Elastic Properties of SiO2–TiO2 Glasses: An Integrated Ultrasonic and Brillouin Study

We have systematically investigated the elastic properties (ρ, VP, VS, K, μ and σ) of eight SiO2–TiO2 glasses, varying in composition from 1.3 to 14.7 wt% TiO2, as a function of pressure up to 0.5 GPa by the pulse superposition (PSP) ultrasonic technique, and two compositions (1.3 and 9.4 wt% TiO2) up to ~5.7 GPa by Brillouin scattering in a diamond anvil cell. The parameters were also measured after annealing to 1020 °C. Composition–elasticity relationships, except for K and σ, are more or less linear; the annealing simply makes the relationships more uniform (less scatter). There is excellent agreement between the ultrasonic and Brillouin measurements at ambient and high pressure. The pressure-induced anomalous elastic behavior (negative dVP/dP and dK/dP) becomes more negative (more compressible) with the increasing TiO2 content. Correspondingly, the acoustic Grüneisen parameters become more negative with increases in the TiO2 content, reaching a minimum near ~8–10 wt% TiO2. The comparison of the low- and high-pressure ultrasonic and Brillouin VP and VS in two glasses (1.3 and 9.4 wt% TiO2) shows excellent agreement, defining the reversible elastic behavior at low pressures and irreversible behavior at higher pressures (≥5.7 GPa) well. This result is consistent with our previous high-pressure Raman study showing an irreversible structural change in a similar pressure range.