PDF analysis on re-crystallized structure from amorphous BiT

A glass sample of composition Bi4Ti3O12 was prepared by rapid quenching. The as-quenched sample was confirmed to be amorphous by synchrotron X-ray measurements. The crystallization process of the amorphous sample was also investigated by high-energy X-ray diffraction and by atomic pair distribution function analysis. The perovskite layer in the crystal Bi4Ti3O12 is transformed to a pyrochlore structure in the amorphous sample. The amorphous sample first crystallized to a metastable phase by acquiring long-range ordering of the pyrochlore structure at Tcryst1, and then secondary crystallized into a reverted Bi4Ti3O12 structure at Tcryst2.