We visualized a region of a spatial electric charge in a corona-poled soda-lime glass using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM image obtained perfectly coincides with a numerically calculated distribution of the spatial charge in the structure. Compositional depth profiles of the glass were characterized with energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis. The measurements showed that K+ ions, the total concentration of which in pristine glass is practically negligible, pile-up significantly just beside a backfront of fast Na+ ions, and their peak concentration exceeds initial K+ content by about 15 times. This is in a good agreement with an analytical model recently presented by Oven. However, diffusion smearing of the spatial charge distribution and the poling profiles turns out to be much larger than the theory predicts.

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Thermally stimulated depolarization current spectra of poled silicate multicomponent glasses in the vicinity of room temperature (220–320 K) have been recorded and two bands, typical for such glasses, have been observed. It was shown that the high-temperature band (at about 290 K) is related to the relaxation of poled glass structure in the bulk, while the low-temperature band (at about 230–270 K) should be attributed to the surface phenomenon—absorption/desorption of positive species of ambient atmosphere, supposedly, water cluster ions H+(H2O)n.

Data on thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) study of the same poled glass in the temperature range 100–1000 K are analyzed. Four specific temperature ranges in the TSDC spectrum of this glass are identified, with each range being attributed to the charge relaxation processes of different natures. During linear heating in the temperature range 100–250 K, charge relaxation is related to the adsorption/desorption of particles from the atmosphere, supposedly water cluster ions H+(H2O) n . The next TSDC band, which is observed at room temperature and above, is related to the disordering of the polar structural entities. The TSDC band in the temperature range 500–750 K is attributed to the relaxation of spatial charge by the diffusion mechanism. The TSDC band in the temperature range 750–1000 K is attributed to the relaxation of spatial charge by the viscous flow mechanism. All these data allowed drawing a schematic TSDC spectrum of silicate glasses in the full temperature range.