Beyond the average: A review of how spatial and temporal structural deviations affect glass-forming oxide systems
As discussed on CTT last Tuesday, many fundamental glass processes remain a “black box” to materials scientists despite the ubiquity of glass in our lives.
This uncertainty is due largely to the complexity of the glass atomic structure. Unlike metals and ceramics, which consist of highly ordered, long-range structures, glasses consist of disordered, short- and medium-range structures that are not thermodynamically stable. Because of this instability, glass slowly but steadily evolves over time toward a metastable supercooled liquid state.
These deviations of the glass atomic structure in space and time are referred to as spatial and temporal fluctuations, respectively. Fluctuations can significantly affect the macroscopic properties of a glass, yet most studies to date do not account for these deviations.