The research activities at the Structure and Dynamics of Complex Systems (SDCS) laboratory are focused on the experimental study of the interplay between structural and dynamical properties of a class of materials including liquids and glasses, soft matter, ceramics and disordered photonic systems. In fact, the relevant macroscopic properties of these materials (e.g. thermodynamic properties, transport coefficients, elastic moduli etc.) do not depend only on their structure or only on their dynamics but rather on their often complex interplay. These research activities aim at achieving a detailed understanding and eventually a tailored design of materials with predefined properties.
Extreme ultraviolet transient gratings: A tool for nanoscale photoacoustics
Collective lattice dynamics determine essential aspects of condensed matter, such as elastic and thermal properties. These exhibit strong dependence on the length-scale, reflecting the marked wavevector dependence of lattice excitations. The extreme ultraviolet transient grating …
- 14/02/2023
Micro-Raman spectroscopy for a comprehensive understanding of the structural evolution of Basaltic-Andesite and Trachybasalt multiphase systems
The liquid viscosity of multiphase systems is usually retrieved by the use of combined chemical analysis and empirical chemistry-based models. Here we present an alternative approach to study the glassy pools in highly crystallized basaltic-andesite …
- 14/02/2023
Effect of the alkali vs iron ratio on glass transition temperature and vibrational properties of synthetic basalt-like glasses
Volcanic eruptions generate huge amounts of material with a wide range of compositions and therefore different physicochemical properties. We present a combined Raman and calorimetric study carried out on four synthetic basaltic glasses with different …
- 14/02/2023
Amorphous-amorphous transformation induced in glasses by intense x-ray beams
The atomic displacements induced by an x-ray beam of relatively low energy, ε∼8 KeV, are investigated in pure boron oxide and in a set of sodium silicate glasses by means of x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. We observe …
- 13/02/2023
Stochastic atomic acceleration during the X-ray-induced fluidization of a silica glass
The X-ray-induced, nonthermal fluidization of the prototypical SiO2 glass is investigated by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy in the small-angle scattering range. This process is initiated by the absorption of X-rays and leads to overall atomic displacements …
- 12/01/2023