0000000000017970
AUTHOR
Daniel Herzbach
Irreversibility of the pressure-induced phase transition of quartz and the relation between three hypothetical post-quartz phases
Our atomistic computer simulations mainly based on classical force fields suggest that the pressure-induced transition from $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ quartz to quartz II at $21\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GPa}$ is irreversible. While quartz II is ferroelastic in principle, the transition itself is coelastic, as the shape of the newly formed crystal is determined by the handedness of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-quartz. Upon releasing the pressure, our model quartz II remains stable down to $5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GPa}$, where it undergoes an isosymmetric transformation into a less dense polymorph. If the classical force field model of quartz II is compressed quickly to $50\phantom{\…
Computer Simulations of Undercooled Fluids and Glasses
An introduction to the Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation of chemically realistic models for undercooled fluids and glasses is given, emphasizing silicatic materials such as molten silicon dioxide and its mixtures with sodium oxide and aluminium oxide, and comparing the simulation results to experimental data whenever possible.
Comparison of model potentials for molecular-dynamics simulations of silica.
Structural, thermomechanical, and dynamic properties of pure silica SiO2 are calculated with three different model potentials, namely, the potential suggested by van Beest, Kramer, and van Santen (BKS) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 1955 (1990)], the fluctuating-charge potential with a Morse stretch term for the short-range interactions proposed by Demiralp, Cagin, and Goddard (DCG)[Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1708 (1999)], and a polarizable force field proposed by Tangney and Scandolo (TS) [J. Chem. Phys. 117, 8898 (2002)]. The DCG potential had to be modified due to flaws in the original treatment. While BKS reproduces many thermomechanical properties of different polymorphs rather accurately, it also sh…
Piezoelectric coefficients by molecular dynamics simulations in the constant stress ensemble: A case study of quartz
Piezoelectric (strain) coefficients dij of quartz are calculated in terms of molecular dynamics as a function of pressure and temperature. We review the necessary formulas for the computation of electromechanical materials coefficients obtained at constant stress and temperature, and discuss how to overcome complications of the definition of polarization variations due to fluctuating box geometries. A method is employed suppressing significantly stochastic fluctuations of the estimators for piezoelectric coefficients. A recently suggested force field for the simulation of SiO2 reproduces available experimental data quite accurately. Predictions are made for the pressure dependence of dij of…