A current controversy over the nature of fracture in silica glass is revisited in the light of additional experimental evidence obtained by cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy in the immediate crack-tip zone of two different types of silica glass. The Letter describes the dual experimental output obtained by monitoring optically active oxygen defects in silica glass, as follows: (i) analysis of local crack-tip stoichiometry (i.e., lattice defect population); and, (ii) spatially resolved stress analysis ahead of the crack tip based on a piezo-spectroscopic (PS) approach. CL experiments provided us with direct access to crack-tip stress fields, thus unfolding some missing detail about the complex mechanochemical interactions occurring at the crack tip in silica glass.

• Received 28 April 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.175501