Potential energy landscape of Li+ ions in lithium silicate glasses: Implications on ionic transport

Abstract The potential energy landscapes of Li + ions in Li 2 O–SiO 2 glasses containing 3.3–15 mol% Li 2 O have been studied using molecular dynamics simulation. It is shown for the first time that the densities of states for Li + ions follow a nearly universal logarithmic distribution irrespective of the Li concentration. Such a functional form of the ionic density of states is shown to provide an explanation for the experimentally observed logarithmic dependence of the activation energy of dc conductivity on the modifier ion concentration in a wide variety of glasses.