Figure 5. Relationship between disordering and amorphization.

Schematic figure highlighting the relationship between the energetics of disordering and amorphization resistance as a function of the cation structure of the derivative compound, spinel or pyrochlore. In spinels that have cation vacancies relative to the basic rocksalt structure, amorphization resistance is proportional to the difficulty to disorder the compound, as the kinetics of reordering, facilitated by the cation vacancies, is faster as the disordered phase becomes less favourable. In contrast, in fluorite-derivative compounds that have the same cation density as the basic fluorite structure, these kinetics are absent and energy builds up fastest in compounds that have higher energies to disorder. These compounds are thus less resistant to amorphization. We propose that these concepts hold more generally to other classes of compounds as well.