Texture Formation in a Glass Ceramic of Li2O⋅2SiO2 Composition

Glass ceramics of the compositionLi 2 O ⋅ 2SiO 2 .were prepared with an oriented microstructure. Theoriented crystalline phase is orthorhombic lithium disilicate. This orientation was achieved bycrystallization of glass fibers and bulk glasses in a temperature gradient and under isothermal conditions.Both bulk and surface crystallization were achieved. Further, oriented crystalline films were preparedon glassy and crystalline substrates by a sol-gel method. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic forcemicroscopy were used to characterize the microstructure. The degree of orientation was investigatedby X-ray pole figure measurements from which orientation distribution functions and inverse pole figureswere calculated. The (002) plane of the surface crystallized material shows a strong fiber texture parallelto the surface of the sample.