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How a supercooled liquid borrows structure from the crystal
Ulf R Pedersen1, Ian Douglass1, Peter Harrowell2
1Glass and Time, IMFUFA, Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, P.O. Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|February 9, 2021
Summary
Supercooled liquids can adopt crystal-like structures, like the Laves phase, without losing their liquid state. This borrowing of crystal structure may explain favored local structures in many liquids.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Materials science
- Computational chemistry
Background:
- Supercooled liquids exhibit complex structural dynamics.
- Understanding the local structure of supercooled liquids is crucial for predicting their behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the local atomic structure in a supercooled binary atomic liquid mixture.
- To determine if supercooled liquids can exhibit crystalline structures without destabilization.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing advanced computer simulations.
- Analyzing common neighbor structures within the supercooled liquid.
- Comparing simulated structures to known equilibrium crystal phases, specifically the Laves structure.
Main Results:
- The supercooled liquid mixture exhibits common neighbor structures analogous to the equilibrium Laves crystal phase.
- A significant accumulation of crystal-like (Laves) structures was observed.
- The liquid remained a true metastable liquid despite the presence of these crystalline structures.
Conclusions:
- Supercooled liquids can incorporate crystalline structures without losing their metastability.
- The ability to "borrow" crystal structures may be a fundamental characteristic of liquids with strong local ordering.
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