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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Hardness of covalent and ionic crystals: first-principle calculations
1Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Na Slovance 2, 182 21 Praha 8, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
A new concept, the strength of bond, and a new form expressing the hardness of covalent and ionic crystals are presented. Hardness is expressed by means of quantities inherently coupled to the atomistic structure of matter, and, therefore, hardness can be determined by first-principles calculations. Good agreement between theory and experiment is observed in the range of 2 orders of magnitude. It is shown that a lower coordination number of atoms results in higher hardness, contrary to common opinion presented in general literature.
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