Correlation between Structures and Physical Properties of Binary ZnO-P2O5Glasses

The structures and various corresponding physical parameters of non-crystalline materials have attracted much attention owing to their wide diversity. Because solving the structure of glass is one of the most challenging issues in glass science, it is essential to combine several experimental and modeling techniques. Herein, the physical properties and structures at different length scales of binary zinc phosphate (ZP) glass are examined using different probes. The 3D structures constructed by reverse Monte Carlo modeling based on the datasets of(31)P nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron and X-ray diffraction, and Zn K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure indicate that the volume fraction and the connectivity of cavities in these ZP glasses vary significantly depending on the chemical composition. In addition, the compositional-dependent modification of the network structure is examined through the diffraction peaks in X-ray and neutron data, the boson peak of Raman scattering, and positron annihilation lifetime data. Furthermore, the correlations between structural parameters at different length scales are discussed using statistical principal component analysis. It is demonstrated that such numerical analysis based on the experimental results is important not only for simple oxide systems, but also for multicomponent glass systems.