Structural transformation and dynamical heterogeneity in Germania melt under compression: molecular dynamic simulation

Autor: Mai Thi Lan, Pham Khac Hung, Nguyen Van Hong, N.T.T. Ha
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Canadian Journal of Physics. 99:1086-1094
ISSN: 1208-6045
0008-4204
Popis: The structural transformation and dynamical heterogeneity in Germania (GeO2) are investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The MD model with 5499 atoms was constructed under pressure up to 150 GPa and at a temperature of 3500 K. The structural transformation mechanism has been studied by observing domain structures and boundary oxygen atoms. The simulation result reveals that GeO2 consists of separate domains and boundaries in its melt structure. Under compression, the structure of GeO2 changes gradually and represents many types of structures. The melt structure exhibits many structural domains Dx, and polymorphism appears at pressures of 12 and 20 GPa. The change of tetrahedral structure to octahedral structure in germanium coordination occurred in parallel with the process of merging and splitting of domain structure. Moreover, the existence of high- and low-density phases in GeO2 melt is indicated. The high-density phase is D6 domain and boundary oxygen while the low-density phase is D4 and D5 domain. The compression mechanism in GeO2 melt mainly is a reduction of average Voronoi volume of oxygen and Voronoi volume of D6, boundary atoms oxygen. Furthermore, we find the dynamical heterogeneity at ambient pressure. The separate “fast” regions and “slow” regions in GeO2 are detected via link-cluster function.
Databáze: OpenAIRE