Highlights
October 16, 2014
Reactive cluster model of metallic glasses
Metallic glasses are still poorly understood, especially the lack of long-range order. In a bottom-up approach, researchers from the Colorado School of Mines have studied the chemical interactions between clusters underlying the acrystalline behavior of glass formers. The Cu-Zr binary systems display a rich cluster chemistry leading to rich interconnections ultimately resulting in glass formation. The electronic characteristics of a binary metal system determine whether a glass is likely to form, in particular a high density of states of the solute metal near the Fermi edge of the solvating metal.
SOMO of C5v symmetric ZrCu5, which easily forms chains.
