First x-ray scattering studies on electrostatically levitated metallic liquids: demonstrated influence of local icosahedral order on the nucleation barrier

To explain the unusual stability of undercooled liquids against crystallization, Frank hypothesized that the local structures of undercooled liquids contain a significant degree of icosahedral short-range order, which is incompatible with long-range periodicity. We present here the first direct experimental demonstration of Frank's complete hypothesis, showing a correlation between the nucleation barrier and a growing icosahedral short-range order with decreasing temperature in a Ti39.5Zr39.5Ni21 liquid. A new experimental facility, BESL (Beamline Electrostatic Levitation), was developed to enable the synchrotron x-ray structural studies on deeply undercooled, reactive liquids.     

Ordering effects in disordered systems: the Au-Si system

We have characterized the short-range order in the liquid and undercooled states of Au-Si alloy at the eutectic composition using molecular dynamics simulations. The interactions are described via a modified embedded-atom model refined to take into account the liquid properties. For the eutectic liquid, the local structure is characterized by a strong Au-Si affinity, namely a well-pronounced chemical short-range order which leads to the slowing down of the formation of icosahedral local motifs in the undercooled regime. Moreover we discuss the influence of this peculiar local structure on the dynamic and thermodynamic properties of the liquid phase and compare our results with available experimental data.     

钴和铁熔体短程序的分子动力学模拟

通过分子动力学模拟研究了金属钴和铁熔体从普通液态到过冷液态普通微观结构的性质.所计算两体分布函数与可获得的实验结果基本一致,从普通液态到过冷液态的局域结构中的原子配位数为11和12的分布几率随着温度的降低而变小,而原子的配位数大于12的分布几率反而增加,角分布函数位于55.有一个明显的峰,位于110°有一个宽展的峰,位于150°有一个肩膀,表明金属钴和铁熔体的微观局域结构要比规则的二十面体团簇的结构复杂得多.我们的模拟结果表明金属熔体中的二十面体短程序随着温度的降低而增加,并在过冷液态中而占优势.     

Local order of liquid and supercooled zirconium by ab initio molecular dynamics

It has been suggested that icosahedral short-range order (SRO) occurs in deeply undercooled melts of pure metallic elements. We report results of first-principles molecular dynamics simulations for stable and undercooled zirconium liquids. Our results emphasize the occurrence of a local order more complex than the icosahedral one. For stable liquid, the local order is interpreted on the basis of a competition between a polytetrahedral SRO and a bcc-type SRO. We also demonstrate that a bcc-type SRO increases with the degree of undercooling.     

Icosahedral short-range order in deeply undercooled metallic melts

Experimental evidence of icosahedral short-range order in stable and deeply undercooled melts of pure metallic elements is obtained using the combination of electromagnetic levitation with neutron scattering. This icosahedral short-range order is shown to occur in the bulk metallic melt independently of the system investigated. It strongly increases with the degree of undercooling.     

Reverse Monte Carlo study on structural order in liquid and glassy AlFe alloys

This paper reports that anomalous local order in liquid and glassy AlFeCe alloy has been detected by x-ray diffraction measurements. The addition of the element Ce has a great effect on this local structural order. The element Ce favours interpenetration of the icosahedra by sharing a common face and edges. It argues that frustration between this short-range order and the long-range crystalline order controls the glass-forming ability of these liquids. The obtained results suggest that a system having a stronger tendency to show local icosahedral order should be a better glass-former. This scenario also naturally explains the close relationship between the local icosahedral order in a liquid, glass-forming ability, and the nucleation barrier. Such topological local order has also been analysed directly using the reverse Monte Carlo method. It also estimated the fraction of local ordered and disordered structural units in a glassy AlFeCe alloy.     

Evolution of local atomic structure in a melt-spun Ni25Ti50Cu25 shape memory alloy during crystallization

The local atomic environment of a melt-spun Ni₂₅Ti₅₀Cu₂₅ amorphous alloy and bond evolution during crystallization were studied by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. In the amorphous alloy, the interatomic distances of Ni–Ti and Cu–Ti are distinct from Ti–Ti and can be indicative of the formation of two types of dominant polyhedra or distorted polyhedral clusters centered with Ni and Cu, with the majority of shell atoms being Ti. The overall increase in the coordination numbers of Ni, Ti, and Cu by crystallization and evidence for structural relaxation suggest that the melt-spun ribbon contains a combination of ordered structures and free volume prior to the heat treatment. Copper and nickel are co-located as their absorption spectra are similar. Although crystallization occurs rapidly (within 4?min at 500 °C), the local atomic environment change persists at longer annealing durations (up to 10?min). An increase in the Ti–Ti and Cu–Cu homo-bond fractions at short and intermediate annealing times suggests that these species segregate between Cu-rich and Cu-poor phases. Crystallization continues through a short-range Ti and Cu diffusion-dominated process, as the near-neighbor structures of Ti and Cu change considerably more than for Ni during annealing. This homogenizes the microstructure followed by possible precipitation of a TiCu compound.     

Xenon melting curve to 80 GPa and 5p-d hybridization

Measurements made in a laser heated diamond-anvil cell are reported that extend the melting curve of Xe to 80 GPa and 3350 K. The steep lowering of the melting slope (dT/dP) that occurs near 17 GPa and 2750 K results from the hybridization of the 5p-like valence and 5p-like conduction states with the formation of clusters in the liquid having icosahedral short-range order (ISRO).     

Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations of short-range order in liquid Al80Mn20 and Al80Ni20 alloys

Atomic structures of liquid Al80Mn20 and Al80Ni20 have been calculated by first-principles molecular-dynamics simulations. For both liquid alloys, the local structure is characterized by a strong Al-TM (transition metal) affinity, which leads to a well-pronounced chemical short-range order. However, we show that the occurrence of magnetic moments localized on Mn atoms plays a key role in determining the short-range arrangement of Mn atoms which is also interpreted on the basis of the local fivefold symmetry.     

Short-to-medium-range order in Mg65Cu25Y10 metallic glass

The atomic configurations of liquid and glassy Mg₆₅Cu₂₅Y₁₀ alloy have been simulated in the temperature range of 300 K to 2000 K via ab initio molecular dynamics. The variations of pair correlation function (PCF), structure factor (SF), coordination number (CN) and bond pairs with the temperature for this alloy are characterized. It has been shown that the atoms are near densely packed and icosahedral type of short-range order (SRO) is predominant in the glass state. Icosahedral medium range order (MRO) can be formed by vertex or intercross connection of icosahedral SROs. In this work, an icosahedral MRO which is composed of 55 atoms has been found. It has been also clarified that Mg and Cu occupy the centre or vertex, and Y atoms only occupy the vertex of the icosahedron in this glassy alloy. It is believed that these findings have implication for understanding the glass forming mechanism of magnesium based metallic glasses.     

Structural evolution of Ti50Cu50 on rapid cooling by molecular dynamics simulation

The structural evolution and atomic structure of the Ti₅₀Cu₅₀ compound have been investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulation using the generalized embedded-atom model (GEAM) potential. Gibbs free energy calculation manifests the large driving force of undercooled Ti₅₀Cu₅₀ for crystallization and thus the poor glass-forming ability. Radial distribution functions (RDFs) within the temperature range from 2000 K to 300 K are analyzed and reveal the increasing degree of short-range order and reducing periodic length between peaks on cooling. Atomic arrangement is characterized by the Voronoi tessellation method, showing that the frequency of icosahedral configurations is most sensitive to temperature and grows upon quenching while that of the others remains relatively stable. The thermal behavior of the structure factors follows the Debye model up to the supercooled liquid temperature. The structural investigation of amorphous Ti₅₀Cu₅₀ demonstrates that there exist a variety of polyhedral configurations in Ti₅₀Cu₅₀ amorphous alloy, where icosahedral and bcc clusters are the major types. Due to the existence of bcc clusters and the other distorted polyhedra other than full icosahedra, the structural analysis reconfirms the inference from the Gibbs free energy calculation.     

非晶合金及合金液体的局域五次对称性

简要回顾了从20世纪30年代至今,有关非晶合金及合金液体的局域结构五次对称性的实验、理论和模拟研究.在简单液体的早期研究中,人们已经意识到五次对称性在简单液体的无序结构、过冷和晶化等起着重要作用,二十面体短程序作为五次对称性的典型代表受到了广泛关注.自从Frank提出简单液体中二十面体短程序的结构单元,大量的理论和实验研究已经明确在简单液体、合金液体和金属玻璃中存在局域五次对称性,并且建立了局域五次对称性与合金液体复杂动力学行为、玻璃转变、液体-液体相变以及非晶合金的形变等统一的定量描述和物理图像,表明了局域五次对称性作为结构参量的简单、普遍和有效性.     

Investigation of the particular features of the structure factor of liquid Al-based alloys

We study the structure of liquid binary and ternary alloys of aluminum with transition metals (Al-TM) obtained by Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation methods. Two distinctive features of their structure factor are discussed: the shoulder on the second peak and the prepeak on the left side of the main peak. The quadruples of mutually neighboring atoms (Delaunay simplexes) with a shape close to a regular tetrahedron's (quasi-regular tetrahedra) have been selected in the models and examined. They combine into clusters of different morphology (polytetrahedra) forming a polytetrahedral order (PTO), and there are no compact clusters of these tetrahedra similar to icosahedron in our alloys. It is discussed that the second peak feature of the structure factor is associated with PTO, and does not require for its explanation the presence of icosahedral short-range order (ISRO) in the liquid alloys. The prepeak is caused by the chemical short-range order (CSRO). In our models it is observed mainly on the subsystem of atoms which is complementary to the subsystem of the polytetrahedra. Simulation of the CSRO was performed on a model of monatomic liquid. A new length scale responsible for the prepeak has been obtained in this simulation.     

快凝过程中液态Cu64Zr36合金二十面体团簇遗传与演化跟踪

采用分子动力学方法模拟研究了液态Cu₆₄Zr₃₆合金在冷速50 K/ns下 的快速凝固过程, 并通过双体分布函数、Honeycutt-Andersen (H-A) 键型指数和团簇类型指数对其微结构演变特性进行了分析. 液态与快凝玻璃合金的主要原子组态都是二十面体(12 0 12 0)及其变形结构 (12 8/1551 2/1541 2/1431), 其中比例最高的是Cu芯Cu₈Zr₅基本原子团, 其次是Cu₇Zr₆和Cu₉Zr₄团簇; 并且由这些二十面体基本原子团铰链形成的中程序, 其尺寸分布在液相和固相中分别呈现出13, 19, 25,···和13, 19, 23, 25, 29, 37,···的幻数特征. 团簇的演化与跟踪分析发现: 没有任何团簇能从液态直接遗传到固态合金, 遗传的起始温度出现在T_m–T_g过冷液相区. 二十面体团簇的遗传主要以完全和直接遗传为主, 并且一个明显的增加发生在T_g附近. 在玻璃化转变温度T_g以下, (12 0 12 0) 二十面体比 (12 8/1551 2/1541 2/1431) 变形二十面体具有更高的结构遗传能力, 但仅有少部分在遗传过程中能保持化学成分的恒定. 通过部分遗传, 某些二十面体中程序甚至也能从过冷液体中被遗传到玻璃合金. 关键词： 快速凝固 分子动力学 二十面体团簇 遗传     

Icosahedral short-range order in amorphous alloys

We have characterized the icosahedral short-range order in amorphous solids using local environment probes. Such topological local order is pronounced even in an amorphous alloy that does not form quasicrystalline phases upon crystallization, as demonstrated by the extended x-ray absorption fine structure and x-ray absorption near-edge structure of a Ni-Ag amorphous alloy analyzed through reverse Monte Carlo simulations.     

Formation and crystallization of ZrCuTi metallic glasses

We report the suction casting of Zr₆₅Cu₂₇Ti₈ bulk metallic glasses with diameters up to 1?mm. While the substitution of Ti for Cu increases the glass forming ability significantly, the onset crystallization temperature and the width of the supercooled liquid region decrease. This decrease is due to the appearance of an icosahedral quasicrystal phase, which crystallises from the glass at a lower temperature than the Zr₂Cu devitrification product in the Zr₆₅Cu₃₅ glasses. Based on the results of recent structural studies of undercooled Ti/Zr-based alloys, this likely reflects the formation of icosahedral order in the undercooled liquid, which increases the nucleation barrier for the Zr₂Cu phase during the quench, making glass formation easier.     

Molecular dynamics characterization of icosahedral short range order in undercooled copper

The stability of undercooled simple metals is still an intriguing problem for materials science and technology. There is not consensus on the role played by the icosahedral short range order during undercooling. The scenario is even less clear for undercooled metals under external pressure. Extensive molecular dynamics simulations, based on an empirical tight-binding interatomic potential, are performed to explain experimental results recently obtained on liquid and undercooled liquid copper. A common neighbour analysis is used to fully characterize the icosahedral short range order in both undercooled and liquid systems. Moreover, the effect of pressure on icosahedral short range order, is addressed and rationalized. External pressure increases the probability to find atomic bonds with icosahedral symmetry both in the liquid and in the undercooled copper.     

Investigation of multicomponent chemical short-range order in NiZr2

The local atomic configuration of multicomponent chemical short-range order (MCSRO) in NiZr2 has been investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulation (MD) in a wide temperature range. The potential functions for the system based on the embedded atom method are constructed and the parameters are obtained by fitting the structure and properties of NiZr2 crystal. The static structures such as pair distribution functions and the distribution of coordination number have been calculated. The local atomic configurations of the MCSI~Os in the melt were demonstrated as distorted coordination polyhedron of the compound structure and/or the structure similar to cubooctahedron analogues. It is indicated by the results of MD simulation that above the melting point the atomic packing of long-range order disappears, but the chemical interaction of coordinated atoms still exists, which leads to the formation of various MCSROs with atomic configurations similar to the stable or metastable unit cell of NiZr2 compound. When the system is just melted, many icosahedral polyhedron configurations appear, which decrease as the over-heating temperature increases.     

Stable quasiperiodic icosahedral states

The discovery of icosahedral quasicrystals five years ago, has challenged the validity of the well-known conjecture that the ground state of a system of particles interacting via short-range forces is always crystalline at absolute zero. We have calculated the classical cohesive energies and pair distribution functions of a large class of monatomic icosahedral structures, interacting via the Lennard-Jones (LJ) and the Square-Well (SW) potentials. For the SW potential, we have found an icosahedral phase, with lower enthalpy than the BCC, FCC and HCP phases. The phase is robust with respect to small changes in the potential, pressure and even structure, and transforms to the BCC phase above a critical pressure. Our results suggest that icosahedral ground states may indeed be possible for a class of potentials with Friedel-like oscillations, whose extremal positions satisfy geometric constraints favoring icosahedral order.