Dielectric-susceptibility study of a strong glass-forming liquid

Broadband dielectric-susceptibility measurements of high-purity liquid boron oxide at temperatures approaching its glass transition temperature T-g demonstrate that the principal contribution to the response results from ionic conduction. This conductivity is analyzed in the context of results from other ionically conducting liquids and glasses. The temperature dependence of the de conductivity tracks the structural dynamics at high temperature, but decouples from those dynamics close to T-g, suggesting a growing separation between rotational and translational relaxation times. No evidence appears in the susceptibility of the pure oxide for an alpha peak, like those seen with organic molecular liquids and polymer melts, and the results provide an upper bound on the possible strength of such a feature. [S0163-1829(98)01918-3].