Defects in a disordered world: the structure of glassy GeSe2

The full set of partial structure factors for the prototypical network glass GeSe2 was measured using the method of isotopic substitution in neutron diffraction. The basic building block of the network is the Ge(Se(1/2))(4) tetrahedron in which 34(5)% of the Ge reside in edge-sharing configurations. The intrinsic chemical order of the glass is, however, broken with a maximum of 25(5)% Ge and 20(5)% Se being involved in homopolar bonds at distances of 2.42(2) and 2.32(2) A, respectively.