Effect of fragility on relaxation of density fluctuations in glass

Density fluctuations play a crucial role in governing the optical, mechanical, thermodynamic, and kinetic properties of glass. The relaxation of density fluctuations displays an inherently nonmonotonic behavior, yielding a minimum in fluctuations following a quench and isothermal hold. Here we investigate the impact of liquid fragility on the relaxation of density fluctuations in the nonequilibrium glassy state. While fragility has a direct impact on the kinetics of the relaxation process, the minimum level of density fluctuations is unaffected by changes in fragility alone. The magnitude of density fluctuations can be minimized by tailoring the thermal history of the glass. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.