Distribution of rings and intermediate range correlations in silica glass under pressure - a molecular dynamics study

Using the molecular dynamics (MD) method, we have studied the effect of pressure on the distribution of rings and their relationship to intermediate range correlations manifested as the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) for SiO2 glass. A systematic analysis of the modifications observed in the FSDP for densities ranging from 2.0 to 3.2 g/cm3 and temperatures from 0 to 1500 K is reported. The decrease in the height of the FSDP with increasing density is found to be proportional to the decrease in the number of 6-fold rings. For the density and temperature ranges studied in SiO2 glass, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the FSDP remains unchanged.