Stability dependence of local structural heterogeneities of stable amorphous solids

TL;DR

This study investigates how the stability of amorphous solids influences local elastic heterogeneities, revealing increased uniformity with higher stability and no spatial correlation of local elastic moduli.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the stability dependence of local elastic heterogeneities in amorphous solids through simulations across a broad stability range.

Findings

Higher stability leads to more uniform local elastic constants.

Local elastic moduli are not spatially correlated.

Vibrational properties are sensitive to glass stability.

Abstract

The universal anomalous vibrational and thermal properties of amorphous solids are believed to be related to the local variations of the elasticity. Recently it has been shown that the vibrational properties are sensitive to the glass's stability. Here we study the stability dependence of the local elastic constants of a simulated glass former over a broad range of stabilities, from a poorly annealed glass to a glass whose stability is comparable to laboratory exceptionally stable vapor deposited glasses. We show that with increasing stability the glass becomes more uniform as evidenced by a smaller variance of local elastic constants. We find that, according to the definition of local elastic moduli used in this work, the local elastic moduli are not spatially correlated.