Abstract
Quartz undergoes a gradual transition with pressure from a crystalline to an amorphous state. The mechanism for this pressure-induced transition is not well understood. By combining new experimental pressure data and recently developed theoretical methods, we have determined the structural properties of α-quartz near and above this transition. We suggest that highly unfavorable interpolyhedral anion-anion distances, which occur at the transition pressure, play a key role in driving the transition.
- Received 7 September 1990
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.65.3309
©1990 American Physical Society