Molecular dynamics simulation of silicon dioxide glass

Abstract

Silicon dioxide glass is simulated by the method of molecular dynamics. A simple ionic model is able to give good agreement with the radial distribution functions measured by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction. The glass structure was obtained by cooling from the liquid state, and the glass transition took place at ∼ 1500 K. The simulated glass has a tetrahedral network structure with a mean O–Si–O angle of 109·5°, with a spread of ±6°. The Si–O–Si angle lies between 102° and 180° with a mean of 151°. This work is preliminary to a simulation on a much larger system which will thoroughly investigate the bonding topology.