Abstract
We have performed neutron diffraction isotopic substitution experiments on aerodynamically levitated droplets of CaSiO3, to directly extract intermediate and local structural information on the Ca environment. The results show a substantial broadening of the Ca-O peak in the pair distribution function of the melt compared to the glass, which comprises primarily of 6- and 7-fold coordinated Ca-polyhedra. The broadening can be explained by a re-distribution of Ca-O bond lengths, especially towards longer distances in the liquid. The first order neutron difference function provides a rigorous test of recent molecular dynamics simulations and supports the model of the presence of short chains or channels of edge shared Ca-octahedra in the liquid state. It is suggested that the polymerization of Ca-polyhedra is responsible for the fragile viscosity behavior of the melt and the glass forming ability in CaSiO3.
