Origin of “memory glass” effect in pressure-amorphized rare-earth molybdate single crystals

• Pressure-amorphized Eu2(MoO4)3 single crystals were studied ex-situ by XRD and TEM.
• Tiny residual crystalline inclusions were found in amorphous matrix of sample.
• The inclusions keep in memory the parent crystal structure and orientation.
• The inclusions account for “memory glass” effect in rare-earth molibdates.

The memory glass effect (MGE) describes the ability of some materials to recover the initial structure and crystallographic orientation after pressure-induced amorphization (PIA). In spite of numerous studies the nature and underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are still not clear. Here we report investigations of MGE in β′-Eu2(MoO4)3 single crystal samples subjected to high pressure amorphization. Using the XRD and TEM techniques we carried out detailed analysis of the structural state of high pressure treated single crystal samples as well as structural transformations due to subsequent annealing at atmospheric pressure. The structure of the sample has been found to be complex, mainly amorphous, however, the amorphous medium contains evenly distributed nanosize inclusions of a paracrystalline phase. The inclusions are highly correlated in orientation and act as “memory units” in the MGE.

Schematic representation of pressure-induced amorphization and “memory glass” effect in rare-earth molybdate single crystals. The XRD and TEM measurements have revealed the presence of the residual identically oriented paracrystalline nanodomains in the pressure-amorphized state. These domains preserve the information about initial structure and orientation of the sample. They act as memory units and crystalline seeds during transformation of the amorphous phase back to the starting single crystalline one.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide