ABSTRACT
High precision measurements were taken of the specific volume of glassy germanium chalcogenides GeSe2, GeS2, Ge17Se83, and Ge8Se92 under hydrostatic pressure to 8.5 GPa. For GeSe2 and GeS2 glasses in the pressure range to 3 GPa the behavior is an elastic one with bulk modulus softening at pressures above 2 GPa. At higher pressures the relaxation processes begin that have logarithmic kinetics. The relaxation rate for GeSe2 glasses has a clearly pronounced maximum at 3.5-4.5 GPa, which is indicative of the existence of several mechanisms of structural transformations. For nonstoichiometric glasses inelastic behavior is observed at pressures above 1-1.5 GPa, the relaxation rate being much less than that for stoichiometric ones. For all the glasses we observe the "loss of memory" about the prehistory: A pressure rising after relaxation causes the return of values of the specific volume to the curve of compression without relaxation. After depressurization the residual densification makes up nearly 7% in stoichiometric glasses and 1.5% in Ge17Se83 glasses. The values of the effective bulk modulus for nonstoichiometric glasses coincide upon pressure lowering with the values after isobaric relaxations during pressure increase, whereas for GeSe2 the moduli during the decompression exceed substantially the values after isobaric relaxations at compression path. The results obtained demonstrate high capacity of the volumetric measurements to reveal the nature of the transformations in glassy germanium chalcogenides under compression.
ABSTRACT
We study high-pressure polyamorphism of B2O3 glass using x-ray diffraction up to 10 GPa in the 300-700 K temperature range, in situ volumetric measurements up to 9 GPa, and first-principles simulations. Under pressure, glass undergoes two-stage transformations including a gradual increase of the first B-O (O-B) coordination numbers above 5 GPa. The fraction of boron atoms in the fourfold-coordinated state at P<10 GPa is smaller than was assumed from inelastic x-ray scattering spectroscopy data, but is considerably larger than was previously suggested by the classical molecular dynamics simulations. The observed transformations under both compression and decompression are broad in hydrostatic conditions. On the basis of ab initio results, we also predict one more transformation to a superdense phase, in which B atoms are sixfold coordinated.
ABSTRACT
We study the response of a radiation-amorphized material to high pressure. We have used zircon ZrSiO4 amorphized by natural radiation over geologic times, and have measured its volume under high pressure, using the precise strain-gauge technique. On pressure increase, we observe apparent softening of the material, starting from 4 GPa. Using molecular dynamics simulation, we associate this softening with the amorphous-amorphous transformation accompanied by the increase of local coordination numbers. We observe permanent densification of the quenched sample and a nontrivial "pressure window" at high temperature. These features point to a new class of amorphous materials that show a response to pressure which is distinctly different from that of crystals.
