STRUCTURE OF VITREOUS KPO3 STUDIED BY NEUTRON AND X-RAY-DIFFRACTION

The gain of information about the glass structure obtained by RMC simu lations on the basis of neutron and X-ray diffraction results is demon strated by vitreous KPO3. Details of the first neighbour P-O peak conf irm the existence of ring and chain structures which are formed from t wo-fold linked PO4 units. The separation distance of these anionic mol ecular structures is determined by the dimension of the large K+ catio ns. The mutual arrangements of the modifier cations in their oxygen po lyhedra form an interpenetrating substructure which surrounds the vari ous forms of linked PO4 tetrahedra.