Irradiation-driven amorphous-to-glassy transition in quartz: The crucial role of the medium-range order in crystallization

N. M. Anoop Krishnan, Bu Wang, Yann Le Pape, Gaurav Sant, and Mathieu Bauchy

Phys. Rev. Materials 1, 053405 – Published 26 October 2017

Abstract

Noncrystalline solids can be classified into glassy and amorphous, wherein glasses and amorphous solids relax toward the supercooled liquid and crystalline states upon heating, respectively. However, the structural origin of such distinction remains unknown. Herein, based on molecular-dynamics simulations of irradiation-induced disordering of $α$ -quartz, we demonstrate the existence of an amorphous-to-glassy transition. We show that the transition to the glassy state originates from the appearance of structural defects within the medium-range order of the atomic network. Such defects arise from the percolation of short-range defects and kinetically prevent crystallization. Overall, this suggests that the propensity of a disordered system for crystallization is controlled by the similarity between its medium-range order and that of the isochemical crystal.

Received 7 April 2017
Revised 3 October 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.053405

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Crystallization Glass transition Radiation damage

Amorphous materials

Molecular dynamics

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsPolymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

N. M. Anoop Krishnan¹, Bu Wang^1,2, Yann Le Pape³, Gaurav Sant^2,4, and Mathieu Bauchy¹

¹Physics of AmoRphous and Inorganic Solids Laboratory (PARISlab), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
²Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials (LC2), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
³Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6148, USA
⁴California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA