INTERSTICES, DIFFUSION DOORWAYS AND FREE-VOLUME PERCOLATION STUDIES OF A DENSE RANDOM PACKED ATOMIC-STRUCTURE

The interstice, diffusion doorway and free volume statistics of a dense random packed structure of atoms of a single size have been investigated. Interstices were considered to be related to the concept of free volume. The coordination polyhedra relating to the interstices were defined in a manner not involving any cutoff distance but relating to the free volume. The majority of the interstices were found to be four-fold coordinated. Percolation of the free volume was also studied as a function of the probe atom radius. It was found that percolation sets in for a probe radius which is 0.252 that of the host atom radius. © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland).