Ab initio simulations of amorphous GeO2 under pressure: a first search for phase transitions

A series of Ab-initio molecular simulations oriented to get a first qualitative picture have been performed on amorphous GeO 2 at room temperature, submitted to increasing hydrostatic pressure up to 20GPa and released back to 0GPa. Unlike for pure Ge, simulations for GeO 2 show no pressure–induced low-density to high–density phase transition (LDA-HDA) in this pressures range: a result in line with preliminary experimental measurements that encourages for further investigations