Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The microscopic structure of several amorphous substances often reveals complex patterns such as medium- or long-range order, spatial heterogeneity, and even local polycrystallinity. To capture all these features, models usually incorporate a refined description of the particle interaction that includes an ad hoc design of the inside of the system constituents and use temperature as a control parameter. We show that all these features can emerge from a minimal athermal two-dimensional model where particles interact isotropically by a double-well potential, which includes an excluded volume and a maximum coordination number. The rich variety of structural patterns shown by this simple geometrical model apply to a wide range of real systems including water, silicon, and different amorphous materials.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0286950
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416951945