Structure of amorphous GeSe{sub 9} by neutron diffraction and first-principles molecular dynamics: Impact of trajectory sampling and size effects
- Institut de Physique et de Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 43, F-67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2 (France)
- Chaire de Simulation à l’Echelle Atomique (CSEA), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY (United Kingdom)
The structure of glassy GeSe{sub 9} was investigated by combining neutron diffraction with density-functional-theory-based first-principles molecular dynamics. In the simulations, three different models of N = 260 atoms were prepared by sampling three independent temporal trajectories, and the glass structures were found to be substantially different from those obtained for models in which smaller numbers of atoms or more rapid quench rates were employed. In particular, the overall network structure is based on Se{sub n} chains that are cross-linked by Ge(Se{sub 4}){sub 1/2} tetrahedra, where the latter are predominantly corner as opposed to edge sharing. The occurrence of a substantial proportion of Ge–Se–Se connections does not support a model in which the material is phase separated into Se-rich and GeSe{sub 2}-rich domains. The appearance of a first-sharp diffraction peak in the Bhatia-Thornton concentration-concentration partial structure factor does, however, indicate a non-uniform distribution of the Ge-centered structural motifs on an intermediate length scale.
- OSTI ID:
- 22678936
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 145, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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