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Indications of the Cu2Zr Laves phase are observed in MD simulations of amorphous Cu64Zr36 upon isothermal holding just above the glass transition temperature. The structural evolution towards Cu2Zr is accompanied by an increase in the fraction of Cu-centered icosahedra, which demonstrates that a large icosahedral fraction does not just indicate structural relaxation. The crystal-like regions generate an increase in strength and Young's modulus, and a stronger localized shear band. A universal relation between the fraction of full icosahedra and their interconnectivity is found, and both can be modified simultaneously via changes of temperature or strain [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of superclusters based on Cu-centered icosahedra was studied via classical molecular dynamics simulations in Cu64Zr36 metallic glass. Medium-range order was identified by determining the nearest-neighbor histogram and bond-angle distribution of superclusters. A heterogeneous distribution of icosahedra was observed while other common cluster types are distributed homogeneously. The degree of superclustering, as quantified by the number of cap-sharing bonds per icosahedron, was found to depend only on the icosahedron fraction, irrespective of thermal history. This is further supported by a long-time annealing in the supercooled liquid regime, where the number of icosahedra significantly increases and the formation of superclusters is consequently enhanced. While distorted icosahedra are not found in the vicinity of full icosahedra, the Zr-centered (0 0 12 4) clusters show a high spatial correlation to Cu-centered icosahedra. This is indicative of early stages of crystallization into a Cu2Zr Laves phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of glassy GeS2 is studied in the framework of density functional theory, by using a fully self-consistent first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) scheme. A comparative analysis is performed with previous molecular dynamics data obtained within the Harris functional (HFMD) total energy approach. The calculated total neutron structure factor exhibits an unprecedented agreement with the experimental counterpart. In particular, the height of the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) improves considerably upon the HFMD results. Both the Ge and the S subnetworks are affected by a consistent number of miscoordinations, coexisting with the main tetrahedral structural motif. Glassy GeS2 features a short-range order quite similar to the one found in glassy GeSe2, a notable exception being the larger number of edge-sharing connections. An electronic structure localization analysis, based on the Wannier functions formalism, provides evidence of a more enhanced ionic character in glassy GeS2 when compared to glassy GeSe2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of oxide and chalcogenide tetrahedral glasses is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. We show that the changes in the Ge composition affect mostly bending around germanium in binary Ge-Se systems, leaving Se-centered bending almost unchanged. In contrast, the corresponding Se twisting (quantified by the dihedral angle) depends on the Ge composition and is reduced when the system becomes rigid. It is also shown that angles involving the fourth neighbor around Ge is found to change when the system enters the stressed rigid phase. The same analysis reveals that unlike stoichiometric selenides such as GeSe2 and SiSe2, germania and silica display large standard deviations in the bond angle distributions. Within bond-bending constraints theory, this pattern can be interpreted as a manifestation of broken (i.e., ineffective) oxygen bond-bending constraints, whereas the silicon and germanium bending in oxides is found to be similar to the one found in flexible and intermediate Ge-Se systems. Our results establish the atomic-scale foundations of the phenomenological rigidity theory, thereby profoundly extending its significance and impact on the structural description of network glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presence and significance of fivefold configurations in liquid metals are investigated by combining x-ray absorption spectroscopy and computer simulations (molecular dynamics and reverse Monte Carlo) in liquid and undercooled liquid nickel. We show that icosahedral short-range ordering (ISRO), probed by common-neighbor (CNA) and spherical invariant (Ŵ6) analysis, involves a limited fraction (14-18% in undercooled nickel for different structural models) of local atomic configurations. The emerging picture for the liquid structure is that of a mixture of nearly icosahedral structures embedded in a disordered network mainly composed of fragments of highly distorted icosahedra (40-45% of the total), structures reminiscent of the crystalline phase, and other configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We elucidate the structural properties of amorphous SiSe2 by first-principles molecular dynamics. The calculated structure factor is in very good agreement with experiments, as well as the number of corner- and edge-sharing tetrahedra. By focusing on the sequences of Si atoms linked via intra- and intertetrahedral bonds, we identify the predominant structural motifs. The sequences involving both corner- and edge-sharing connections are significantly more frequent than those formed exclusively by edge-shared Si atoms. Our results clarify a longstanding controversy on the structure of this prototypical disordered network-forming material.