The article "Tailoring chemical bonds to design unconventional glasses" by Jean-Yves Raty, Christophe Bichara, Carl-Friedrich Schön, Carlo Gatti, and Matthias Wuttig explores the relationship between chemical bonding and the properties of glasses and their corresponding crystals. The authors use quantum chemical descriptors, specifically the number of electrons transferred and shared between atoms, to quantify chemical bonding in various materials. They find that common glasses like SiO₂, GeSe₂, and GeSe exhibit similar chemical bonding to their crystalline counterparts, leading to similar short-range order and properties. However, for materials with metavalent bonding, such as GeTe, Sb₂Te₃, and GeSb₂Te₄, the glassy and crystalline phases differ significantly in both local order and optical properties. This suggests that unconventional glasses can be designed by manipulating the chemical bonding mechanisms in the crystalline state. The study provides a clear design rule for creating glasses with significantly different optoelectronic properties upon crystallization, highlighting the importance of understanding and controlling chemical bonding in materials science.The article "Tailoring chemical bonds to design unconventional glasses" by Jean-Yves Raty, Christophe Bichara, Carl-Friedrich Schön, Carlo Gatti, and Matthias Wuttig explores the relationship between chemical bonding and the properties of glasses and their corresponding crystals. The authors use quantum chemical descriptors, specifically the number of electrons transferred and shared between atoms, to quantify chemical bonding in various materials. They find that common glasses like SiO₂, GeSe₂, and GeSe exhibit similar chemical bonding to their crystalline counterparts, leading to similar short-range order and properties. However, for materials with metavalent bonding, such as GeTe, Sb₂Te₃, and GeSb₂Te₄, the glassy and crystalline phases differ significantly in both local order and optical properties. This suggests that unconventional glasses can be designed by manipulating the chemical bonding mechanisms in the crystalline state. The study provides a clear design rule for creating glasses with significantly different optoelectronic properties upon crystallization, highlighting the importance of understanding and controlling chemical bonding in materials science.