2006/09/28 by M. Micoulaut, L. Cormier, Micoulaut, M. +5 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Glass properties and applications #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Mesoporous Materials and Catalysis #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0609730
40 pages, 152 references, topical review in press in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
arxiv created 2006/09/28 · openalex publication_date 2006/09/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Germanium dioxide (GeO2) is a chemical analogue of SiO2. Furthermore, it is also to some extent a structural analogue, as the low and high-pressure short-range order (tetrahedral and octahedral) is the same. However, a number of differences exist. For example, the GeO2 phase diagram exhibits a smaller number of polymorphs, and all three GeO2 phases (crystalline, glass, liquid) have an increased sensitivity to pressure, undergoing pressure induced changes at much lower pressures than their equivalent SiO2 analogues. In addition, differences exist in GeO2 glass in the medium range order, resulting in the glass transition temperature of germania being much lower than for silica. This review highlights the structure of amorphous GeO2 by different experimental (e.g., Raman and NMR spectroscopy, neutron and x-ray diffraction) and theoretical methods (e.g., classical molecular dynamics, ab initio calculations). It also addresses the structure of liquid and crystalline GeO2 that have received much less attention. Furthermore, we compare and contrast the structural differences between GeO2 and SiO2, as well as, along the GeO2-SiO2 join. It is probably a very timely review as interest in this compound, that can be investigated in the liquid state at relatively low temperatures and pressures, continues to increase.