Alkaline earth silicate glasses xCaO−(1−x)SiO2 exhibit a well marked threshold in Raman lineshapes which can be related to the onset of network rigidity as the concentration of calcium oxide x is decreased. The present results are analyzed by constraint counting algorithms and more deeply characterized by a size increasing cluster approximation that allows to perform Maxwell mechanical constraint counting beyond the usual mean-field treatment. This permits to discuss under which structural conditions an elastic intermediate phase can be obtained.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0410770,
title = {Raman thresholds and rigid to floppy transitions in calcium silicate glasses},
author = {M. Micoulaut and M. Malki and P. Simon and A. Canizares},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0410770},
year = {2007}
}