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Very sharp diffraction peak in nonglass-forming liquid with the formation of distorted tetraclusters

Very sharp diffraction peak in nonglass-forming liquid with the formation of distorted tetraclusters

Authors :
20531031
00378879
Koyama, Chihiro
Tahara, Shuta
Kohara, Shinji
Onodera, Yohei
Småbråten, Didrik R.
Selbach, Sverre M.
Akola, Jaakko
Ishikawa, Takehiko
Masuno, Atsunobu
Mizuno, Akitoshi
Okada, Junpei T.
Watanabe, Yuki
Nakata, Yui
Ohara, Koji
Tamaru, Haruka
Oda, Hirohisa
Obayashi, Ippei
Hiraoka, Yasuyuki
Sakata, Osami
20531031
00378879
Koyama, Chihiro
Tahara, Shuta
Kohara, Shinji
Onodera, Yohei
Småbråten, Didrik R.
Selbach, Sverre M.
Akola, Jaakko
Ishikawa, Takehiko
Masuno, Atsunobu
Mizuno, Akitoshi
Okada, Junpei T.
Watanabe, Yuki
Nakata, Yui
Ohara, Koji
Tamaru, Haruka
Oda, Hirohisa
Obayashi, Ippei
Hiraoka, Yasuyuki
Sakata, Osami
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

Understanding the liquid structure provides information that is crucial to uncovering the nature of the glass-liquid transition. We apply an aerodynamic levitation technique and high-energy X-rays to liquid (l)-Er2O3 to discover its structure. The sample densities are measured by electrostatic levitation at the International Space Station. Liquid Er2O3 displays a very sharp diffraction peak (principal peak). Applying a combined reverse Monte Carlo – molecular dynamics approach, the simulations produce an Er–O coordination number of 6.1, which is comparable to that of another nonglass-forming liquid, l-ZrO2. The atomic structure of l-Er2O3 comprises distorted OEr4 tetraclusters in nearly linear arrangements, as manifested by a prominent peak observed at ~180° in the Er–O–Er bond angle distribution. This structural feature gives rise to long periodicity corresponding to the sharp principal peak in the X-ray diffraction data. A persistent homology analysis suggests that l-Er2O3 is homologically similar to the crystalline phase. Moreover, electronic structure calculations show that l-Er2O3 has a modest band gap of 0.6 eV that is significantly reduced from the crystalline phase due to the tetracluster distortions. The estimated viscosity is very low above the melting point for l-ZrO2, and the material can be described as an extremely fragile liquid.

Details

Database :
OAIster
Notes :
English
Publication Type :
Electronic Resource
Accession number :
edsoai.on1189791182
Document Type :
Electronic Resource