Amorphous state short-range interactions

Multicomponent systems that present polyamorphism have also been reported in computer simulation studies. For example, in Ref. [35], it is found that silica has a LLCP at very low temperature. Silica is also a tetrahedral liquid and it shares many of the thermodynamic properties observed in water. In Ref. [35], two silica models were considered. In both models, the interactions among O and Si atoms are isotropic, due to single point charges and short-range interacting sites located on each atom. Both models considered in Ref. [35] are characterized by a LLCP at very low temperature and coexistence between two liquids is observed in out of equilibrium simulations close to one of the spinodal lines (see Fig. 2b). The location of the LLCP was estimated to be below the glass transition in real silica and hence, unaccessible in experiments. We note that polyamorphism in the glass state is indeed observed in compression experiments on amorphous silica [14], and is qualitatively reproduced in computer simulations [89]. Other examples of multicomponent systems that show LLPT in simulations are presented in Refs [65,90]. In these cases, a substance that already shows polymorphism is mixed with a second component. 

The disorder of the atomic structure is the main feature which distinguishes amorphous from crystalline materials. It is of particular significance in semiconductors, because the periodicity of the atomic structure is central to the theory of crystalline semiconductors. Bloch s theorem is a direct consequence of the periodicity and describes the electrons and holes by wavefunctions which are extended in space with quantum states defined by the momentum. The theory of lattice vibrations has a similar basis in the lattice symmetry. The absence of an ordered atomic structure in amorphous semiconductors necessitates a different theoretical approach. The description of these materials is developed instead from the chemical bonding between the atom, with emphasis on the short range bonding interactions rather than the long range order. 

As previously pointed out, this book deals mostly with colloidal silicas, that is, disperse systems in which the disperse phase is silica in the colloidal state of subdivision. The colloidal state of subdivision comprises particles with a size sufficiently small (<1 fim) not to be affected by gravitational forces but sufficiently large (>1 nm) to show marked deviations from the properties of true solutions. In this particle size range, 1 nm (10 A) to 1 /xm (1000 nm), the interactions are dominated by short-range forces, such as van der Waals attraction and surface forces. On this basis the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) suggested that a colloidal dispersion should be defined as a system in which particles of colloidal size (1-1000 nm) of any nature (solid, liquid, or gas) are dispersed in a continuous phase of a different composition or state (6). If the particles are solid they may be crystalline or amorphous. The disperse phase may also be small droplets of liquids, as in the case of emulsions, or gases, as for example in foams. 

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