Development of structural order during supercooling of a fragile oxide melt

J Chem Phys. 2007 Feb 21;126(7):074906. doi: 10.1063/1.2646812.

Abstract

The authors have studied the structural evolution of the fragile glass-forming liquid CaAl2O4 during supercooling from the stable liquid phase to the cold glass below Tg. The evolution is characterized by a sharpening of the first diffraction peak and a shortening of the average nearest-neighbor bond length around 1.25Tg, indicating an increase in the degree of both intermediate-range and short-range orders occurring close to the dynamical crossover temperature. The cooling curve developed a kink at this temperature, indicating a simultaneous change in thermodynamic properties.