Localized Mechanical Instabilities and Structural Transformations in Silica Glass under High Pressure

Daniel J. Lacks
Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5385 – Published 15 June 1998
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Abstract

Molecular simulations show that the structural transformations which occur in silica glass under high pressure do not require thermal activation, and arise from localized mechanical instabilities associated with disappearances of local minima on the potential energy surface. This result leads to the prediction that the kinetic stability of silica glass structures differs from that of silica crystal structures: The glass will undergo a pressure-induced transformation to a structure with high average silicon coordination at any arbitrarily low temperature, but this glass structure with high average coordination can never be quenched to atmospheric pressure.

  • Received 23 December 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.5385

©1998 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Daniel J. Lacks

  • Department of Chemical Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118

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Vol. 80, Iss. 24 — 15 June 1998

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