Rayleigh Scattering in Silica Glasses

Rayleigh‐scattering properties in commercial silica glasses is clarified with relation to their fabrication methods. Fused silica and synthetic silica made by the flame hydrolysis of SiCl 4 (VAD) method exhibit similar magnitudes of scattering, regardless of fabrication method. Synthetic silica made by flame fusion of SiCl 4 exhibits ∼10% lower scattering than other silica glasses. The factors affecting scattering are evaluated based on refractive index dispersion and glass transition temperature (T g ). The results suggest that the difference in Rayleigh scattering is predominantly attributable to the difference in T g , which is affected by impurities, such as OH ions.