Coordination of boron and phosphorous in Borophosphosilicate glasses

We report boron K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure measurements on borophosphosilicate glasses and density functional theory calculations aimed at determining the most stable local geometries for boron and phosphorous. We demonstrate that phosphorous induces a modification in the local structure of boron, from a trigonal to a tetrahedral geometry. The microscopic mechanisms involved are discussed.