In situ observation of amorphous-amorphous apparently first-order phase transition in zeolites

In this letter, the authors present the observation of the phase transition between low-density amorphous (LDA) and high-density amorphous (HDA) zeolites using a high pressure Raman spectroscopy. It is found that this transition is apparently of the first order and occurs with a silicon coordination rise. It is shown that the Raman spectra of the LDA-HDA phase transitions in zeolites and in silicon are almost identical, suggesting a generality of amorphous-amorphous transformations both in simple substances and in complex polyatomic materials with tetrahedral configurations. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.