Densified silica can be obtained by different pressure and temperature paths and for different stress conditions, hydrostatic or including shear. The density is usually the macroscopic parameter used to characterize the different compressed silica samples. The aim of our present study is to compare structural modifications for silica glass, densified from several routes. For this, densified silica glasses are prepared from cold and high temperature (up to 1020 °C) compressions. The different densified glasses obtained in our study are characterized by micro-Raman spectroscopy. Intertetrahedral angles from the main band relative to the bending mode decrease and their values are larger for densified samples from high temperature compression than those samples from cold compression. The relative amount of 3-membered rings deduced from the D2 line area increases as a function of density for cold compression. The temperature increase during the compression process induces a decrease of the 3 fold ring population. Moreover, 3 fold rings are more deformed and stressed for densified samples at room temperature at the expense of those densified at high temperature. Temperature plays a main role in the reorganization structure during the densification and leads to obtaining a more relaxed structure with lower stresses than glasses densified from cold compression. The role of hydrostatic or non-hydrostatic applied stresses on the glass structure is discussed. From the Sen and Thorpe central force model, intertetrahedral angle average value and their distribution are estimated.

Densified SiO2 glasses, obtained from different pressure and temperature routes, have been annealed over a wide range of temperatures far below the glass transition temperature (500 °C-900 °C). Hot and cold compressions were useful to separate the effects of pressure and the compression temperature. In situ micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to follow the structural evolution during the thermal relaxation. A similar glass structure between the non-densified silica and the recovered densified silica after the temperature annealing demonstrates a perfect recovery of the non-densified silica glass structure. While the density decreases monotonically, the structural relaxation takes place through a more complex mechanism, which shows that density is not a sufficient parameter to fully characterize the structure of densified silica glass. The relaxation takes place through a transitory state, consisting in an increase of the network inhomogeneity, shown by an increase in the intensity of the D2 band which is associated with 3 membered rings. The activation energy of these processes is 255 ± 45 kJ/mol for the hot compressed samples. The kinetic is overall faster for the cold compressed samples. In that last case, the relaxation is partially activated by internal stresses release.