Elsevier

Scripta Materialia

Volume 117, May 2016, Pages 64-67
Scripta Materialia

Research Article
Structural evolution and energy landscape of the clusters in Zr55Cu35Al10 metallic liquid and glass

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2016.02.023Get rights and content

Abstract

Based on pair distribution function studies, a structural parameter, derived from the number of cluster connecting bonds and the coordination number, and energy analysis have been introduced to describe different kinds of local clusters in the liquids and glasses. By applying these analyses to a widely studied Zr–Cu–Al base alloy system, we found that Zr-, Cu- and Al-centered first shell clusters showed different structural evolution and energy distributions during cooling. In terms of their structure and energy states, it is confirmed that the Al-centered first shell clusters play dominant role in the appearance of glass transition prior to the crystallization.

Graphical abstract

(a) The energy distributions of the Al-, Cu- and Zr-centered first shell clusters at 1300 K and 300 K. (b) The variation of the effective radii of the Zr-, Cu- and Al first shell clusters as a function of temperature during the cooling process.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the NSFC (Grant No. 50971057 and 51371099). We would thank H. Y. Hou for the help on the simulations. CTL was supported by the Hong Kong Government through the General Research Funds (GRF) with the grant number of CityU 102013 at City University of Hong Kong.

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