The local atomic packing of a single-component glass is quasi-crystalline

Abstract: Our earlier Monte Carlo simulations of metastable supercooled-liquid and glass phases of Lennard-Jones atoms found several distinct signatures for identifying the glass transition boundary; i.e., the density, enthalpy, and pair distribution function dependences on temperature and pressure are different for the two phases (F. F. Abraham, J. Chem. Phys., 72, 359 (1980)). In this extension of that study, we base our analysis on the Ackland-Jones (A-J) method for determining the local crystal packing about each atom (G. Ackland & A. Jones, PRB 73, 054104 (2006)). It focuses on the angular distribution of the local atoms surrounding each individual atom and compares it with the known FCC, HCP, BCC, icosahedron packings within a specified uncertainly from perfect packing. Remarkably, the A-J method to our simulated glass states indicates that the local atomic packings of the individual atoms are predominantly crystalline; i.e., quasi FCC, HCP or BCC.