Short range order in elemental liquids of column IV

Abstract

The short range order (SRO) in liquid elements of column IV is analysed within the quasi-crystalline model across a wide range of temperatures. It is found that l-Si, Ge, and Sn are well described with a beta-tin like SRO. In contrast, Pb retains a bcc-like SRO similar to other simple elemental liquids. However, a distinction is found between the SRO in Si and Ge and that in Sn, where the latter has a more rigid structure. This difference persists across the entire temperature range examined but is overcome in Si at pressures above 8 GPa, where the liquid structure evolves towards that of Sn.

Evolution of short range order in Ar: Liquid to glass and solid transitions–A computational study

“…Furthermore, no support for an icosahedral SRO is found in our data. Our results for the SRO in the liquid (bcc-like) agree with previous studies [28][29][30] and for the glass (fcc-like) at slower cooling rates with Ref. 21.…”

“…This approach dates back to the early 20th century and several variants have been proposed over the years which are simple and possibly provide physical insight as proposed by Prins and Petersen 26 and emphasized by Frenkel. 27 The QCM has been recently shown to successfully reproduce the RDF of simple elemental liquids such as Ar and Cu 28 as well anomalous elemental liquids of columns IV and V 29,30 respectively and is commonly applied to identify the "structural" order in liquids, e.g., Ref. 31.…”