| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T21: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Phase Transformations in Ceramics: Science and Applications
|
| Presentation Title |
New Insight into the Disordering Mechanism in Fluorite-related Ceramics |
| Author(s) |
Maik K. Lang |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Maik K. Lang |
| Abstract Scope |
Structural disorder plays a critical role in technological applications to enhance specific functionalities, such as increasing conductivity via chemical doping in semiconductors. Recent results from neutron scattering experiments have shown that the atomic arrangements of many disordered crystalline materials are not random nor are they represented by the long-range structure observed from diffraction experiments. Structural heterogeneity at different length-scales appears to be a general characteristic of disordered materials. This presentation reviews neutron scattering experiments on ceramics that show complex disordering behavior across different length scales. Structural information from pair distribution functions with sensitivity to both cation and anion sublattices were utilized to investigate in detail the disordering process of A2B2O7 pyrochlore. The order-disorder transformation can be understood as a rearrangement of atomic-scale building blocks. The final atomic arrangement within the disordered phase involves a high level of order which can be predicted based on a set of fundamental chemical rules. |