Local Structure and Long Range Order

Abstract

Crystals are distinguished from other states of matter by the existence of long range order or periodicity (crystallographic structure). Glasses or amorphous materials lack long range order. Nevertheless, it is possible that bond distances and coordination numbers (short range order or local structure) exhibit narrow distributions (Elliot 1990). The disorder in glasses is homogeneously distributed whereas in nanocrystalline solids a heterogenously distributed disorder (Gleiter 1992) is generated by interrupting the periodicity of crystals by interfaces creating a material with disorder in the local structure as well as long range order. A simple model of nanocrystalline materials distinguishes between crystalline grains and a network of interfaces, i.e. grain boundaries and pore surfaces (compare Sect. 4.1).KeywordsRange OrderPair Distribution FunctionXANES SpectrumMonoclinic ZirconiaZirconium AtomThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.