The Nanoscale Density Gradient as a Structural Stabilizer for Glass Formation

Shaoxiong Zhou; Bangshao Dong; Yanguo Wang; Jingyu Qin; Weihua Wang

doi:10.1016/j.eng.2023.01.010

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Engineering ›› 2023, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (10) : 120-129. DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.01.010

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The Nanoscale Density Gradient as a Structural Stabilizer for Glass Formation

Shaoxiong Zhou^a^,^b^,^* ,
Bangshao Dong^b^,^c ,
Yanguo Wang^d ,
Jingyu Qin^e ,
Weihua Wang^d^,^*

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Abstract

The rapid cooling of a metallic liquid (ML) results in short-range order (SRO) among the atomic arrangements and a disordered structure in the resulting metallic glass (MG). These phenomena cause various possible features in the microscopic structure of the MG, presenting a puzzle about the nature of the MGs’ microscopic structure beyond SRO. In this study, the nanoscale density gradient (NDG) originating from a sequential arrangement of clusters with different atomic packing densities (APDs), representing the medium-range structural heterogeneity in Zr₆₀Cu₃₀Al₁₀ MG, was characterized using electron tomography (ET) combined with image simulations based on structure modeling. The coarse polyhedrons with distinct facets identified in the three-dimensional images coincide with icosahedron-like clusters and represent the spatial positions of clusters with high APDs. Rearrangements of the different clusters according to descending APD order in the glass-forming process are responsible for the NDG that stabilizes both the supercooled ML and the amorphous states and acts as a hidden rule in the transition from ML to MG.

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Keywords

Rapid cooling / Amorphous solid / Density gradient / Electron tomography / Atomic clusters

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Shaoxiong Zhou, Bangshao Dong, Yanguo Wang, Jingyu Qin, Weihua Wang. The Nanoscale Density Gradient as a Structural Stabilizer for Glass Formation. Engineering, 2023, 29(10): 120‒129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2023.01.010

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51971093, 52192603, and 51501043).

Funding

the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51971093); the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52192603); the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51501043)