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Imaging atomic rearrangements in two-dimensional silica glass: Watching silica's dance

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

P.Y. Huang
S. Kurasch
J.S. Alden
A. Shekhawat
A.A. Alemi
P.L. McEuen
J.P. Sethna
U. Kaiser
D.A. Muller

Abstract

Structural rearrangements control a wide range of behavior in amorphous materials, and visualizing these atomic-scale rearrangements is critical for developing and refining models for how glasses bend, break, and melt. It is difficult, however, to directly image atomic motion in disordered solids. We demonstrate that using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, we can excite and image atomic rearrangements in a two-dimensional silica glass - revealing a complex dance of elastic and plastic deformations, phase transitions, and their interplay. We identified the strain associated with individual ring rearrangements, observed the role of vacancies in shear deformation, and quantified fluctuations at a glass/liquid interface. These examples illustrate the wide-ranging and fundamental materials physics that can now be studied at atomic-resolution via transmission electron microscopy of two-dimensional glasses.

Date Published

Journal

Science

Volume

342

Issue

6155

Number of Pages

224-227,

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84885670594&doi=10.1126%2fscience.1242248&partnerID=40&md5=3df665d4d9c998829ef75341984553b4

DOI

10.1126/science.1242248

Group (Lab)

James Sethna Group
Paul McEuen Group

Funding Source

FA9550-09-1-0691
FA9550-10-1-0410
DGE-0707428
PHY-0941095
0941095

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