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Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
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Data-driven discovery of a universal indicator for metallic glass forming ability
Ming-Xing Li1,2, Yi-Tao Sun1, Chao Wang1
1Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Nature Materials
|November 5, 2021
Summary
Researchers discovered a new way to measure alloy glass forming ability using X-ray diffraction. A larger peak width (Δq) in diffraction patterns indicates better metallic glass formation, speeding up material discovery.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Crystallography
Background:
- Glass forming ability is crucial for alloys but poorly understood.
- Current methods for quantification are experimentally laborious and computationally challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a reliable and efficient method for quantifying alloy glass forming ability.
- To identify a universal indicator for high metallic glass formation.
Main Methods:
- Fabricated approximately 5,700 alloys across 12 alloy systems.
- Utilized conventional X-ray diffraction to characterize the amorphous structure.
- Measured the full-width at half-maximum (Δq) of the first diffraction peak.
Main Results:
- A strong correlation was found between high glass forming ability and a large Δq.
- A large dispersion of structural units in the amorphous phase is a universal indicator for metallic glass formation.
- The method, when combined with combinatorial synthesis, enhances throughput by up to 100 times.
Conclusions:
- X-ray diffraction can effectively assess alloy glass forming ability by analyzing the first diffraction peak width (Δq).
- This approach simplifies and accelerates the discovery of bulk metallic glasses.
- The findings provide a new understanding of the relationship between amorphous structure and glass forming ability.
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