2025/03/05 by Ellis Kennedy, Stephanie M. Ribet, Kennedy, Ellis Rae +13 · 2 citations
Chemistry · Materials Science · #Advanced Physical and Chemical Molecular Interactions #Chemical and Physical Properties of Materials #FOS: Physical sciences #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2503.03922
openalex publication_date 2025/03/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
While amorphous materials are often approximated to have a statistically homogeneous atomic structure, they frequently exhibit localized structural heterogeneity that challenges simplified models. This study uses 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy to investigate the strain and structural modifications around gas bubbles in amorphous Bi2O3 induced by argon irradiation. We present a method for determining strain fields surrounding bubbles that can be used to measure the internal pressure of the gas. Compressive strain is observed around the cavities, with higher-order crystalline symmetries emerging near the cavity interfaces, suggesting paracrystalline ordering as a result of bubble coarsening. This ordering, along with a compressive strain gradient, indicates that gas bubbles induce significant localized changes in atomic packing. By analyzing strain fields with maximum compressive strains of 3%, we estimate a lower bound on the internal pressure of the bubbles at 2.5 GPa. These findings provide insight into the complex structural behavior of amorphous materials under stress, particularly in systems with gas inclusions, and offer new methods for probing the local atomic structure in disordered materials. Although considering structural heterogeneity in amorphous systems is non-trivial, these features have crucial impacts on material functionalities, such as mechanical strength, ionic conductivity, and electronic mobility.