The Structural Basis for Glasses More Tolerant to Thermal, Mechanical and Radiation Impacts

0907076黄NON-技术描述：通过以协同方式结合实验和计算工具，RPI的研究人员将显著提高对玻璃结构的总体理解，事实证明，仅使用其中一种技术很难做到这一点。通过使用压力猝灭技术，他们将合成出在承受较大温度和压力波动时具有高热机阻性的玻璃，这将在压力传感器、光电子和空间应用中获得广泛的用途。该项目的一个组成部分是通过课程开发和重新设计将材料模拟和建模引入材料科学和工程课程。在实施这一项目时，将对研究生和本科生进行玻璃科学和计算机模拟领域的培训。将通过伦斯勒的各种项目，特别努力吸引代表性不足的少数族裔学生进入材料研究，以及一般的科学和工程领域。该项目的成果将通过国家和国际研讨会和会议报告向更广泛的受众传播。技术细节：表征无定形材料的结构一直是一项挑战。对非晶态材料弹性模量的压力和温度依赖性的研究提供了关于玻璃结构的大量信息，因为弹性性质直接与原子间作用力和原子间作用势有关，而原子间作用力和原子势又决定了玻璃的振动性质。在这个项目中，他们的主要工作之一将是利用光散射技术作为玻璃的结构表征工具，利用拉曼和布里渊光散射研究玻璃随压力和温度变化的振动和弹性性质。作为实验的补充，他们将进行大规模的原子模拟，以研究玻璃在外部热、机械和辐射影响下的情况。一旦为研究中的玻璃获得了合理的模型，他们将使用这些模型来解释实验观察，预测尚未合成的玻璃的性能，并为设计具有所需性能的新玻璃提供指导。在这个项目中，他们将开发一种可以推广到合成具有新特性的玻璃的压力猝灭技术。该项目的最终目标是发展对玻璃对外部热、机械和辐射影响的反应的原子学理解，并通过以可控的方式通过加工改变玻璃的结构来调整这些性能的能力。

0907076HuangNON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: By combining experimental and computational tools in a synergistic manner, researchers at RPI will significantly advance the understanding of the glass structure in general, which has proven difficult by using either one of the techniques alone. By using a pressure-quenching technique, they will synthesize glasses that have a high thermo-mechanical resistance when subjected to large temperature and pressure fluctuations, which will find a wide range of uses in pressure sensors, optoelectronics and space applications. An integral part of the project is to introduce materials simulation and modeling into the materials science and engineering curriculum through course development and redesigning. In carrying out this project, graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in the fields of glass science and computer simulation. Special efforts will be made to attract underrepresented minority students into materials research, and into science and engineering in general, through various programs at Rensselaer. Findings of this project will be disseminated to a wider audience through national and international seminars and conference presentations.TECHNICAL DETAILS: Characterization of the structure of amorphous materials has always been a challenge. Studies of the pressure and temperature dependence of elastic moduli for amorphous materials give considerable information about the structure of glass, since elastic properties are directly related to the interatomic forces and potentials, which in turn determine the vibrational properties of glass. In this project, one of their major efforts will be to use light scattering techniques as structural characterization tools for glass, by studying the pressure and temperature dependent vibrational and elastic properties of glass using Raman and Brillouin light scattering. To complement the experiments, they will carry out large-scale atomistic simulations to study glasses under external thermal, mechanical and radiation impacts. Once reasonable models are obtained for the glasses under investigation, they will use these models to explain experimental observations, predict the properties of glasses not yet synthesized, and provide guidelines for designing new glasses with desired properties. In this project, they will develop a pressure-quenching technique that can be generalized to synthesize glasses with novel properties. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop an atomistic understanding of the response of glasses to external thermal, mechanical and radiation impacts, and an ability to tune these properties by changing the structure of glass through processing in a controllable way.