DIRECT EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERMEDIATE-RANGE ORDER IN TOPOLOGICALLY DISORDERED MATTER AND DISCERNIBLE FEATURES IN THE STATIC STRUCTURE FACTOR

The relationship between order at intermediate length scales and disce rnible features in the diffraction pattern of glassy and liquid materi als is demonstrated experimentally by means of a direct comparison of the static structure factors of a material in its liquid, stable cryst al, rotator-phase crystal, orientational glass, and amorphous phases. In addition, the relevance of orientationally disordered crystalline p hases (i.e., either the dynamic disorder of a rotator-phase crystal or the quenched disorder of an orientational glass), as intermediate sta ges between the stable crystal and the topologically disordered (i.e., amorphous) solid, is evidenced. The material studied is ethyl alcohol .