A medium-range structure motif linking amorphous and crystalline states

Amorphous materials have no long-range order, but there are ordered structures at short range (2–5 Å), medium range (5–20 Å) and even longer length scales1–5. While regular6,7 and semiregular polyhedra8–10 are often found as short-range ordering in amorphous materials, the nature of medium-range order has remained elusive11–14. Consequently, it is difficult to determine whether there exists any structural link at medium range or longer length...