The importance of intermediate range order in silicates: molecular dynamics simulation studies

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We present the results of large scale computer simulations in which we investigate the structural and dynamic properties of silicate melts with the compositions (Na₂O)2(SiO₂) and (Al₂O₃)2(SiO₂). In order to treat such systems on a time scale of several nanoseconds and for system sizes of several thousand atoms it is necessary to use parallel supercomputers like the CRAY T3E. We show that the silicates under consideration exhibit additional intermediate range order as compared to silica (SiO₂) where the characteristic intermediate length scales stem from the tetrahedral network structure. For the sodium silicate system it is demonstrated that the latter structural features are intimately connected with a surprising dynamics in which the one--particle motion of the sodium ions appears on a much smaller time scale than the correlations between different sodium ions.