Structural analysis of a high-pressure amorphous phase of SnI4

We have performed a high-pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction study of a metallic amorphous state in SnI4 induced by pressure. The Faber-Ziman structure factor S(Q) was obtained from diffraction intensities measured at pressures between 25 and 65 GPa. The first peak in S(Q) is relatively intense and sharp and the second peak is overlapped with the third one. Such features are also found in S(Q) for pure metallic glasses of Ni and Fe at 1 atm but not in molecular liquids. The obtained reduced radial distribution function g(r) shows no evidence for the presence of the SnI4 molecules in the metallic amorphous state