RESUMEN
Relaxation processes significantly influence the properties of glass materials. However, understanding their specific origins is difficult; even more challenging is to forecast them theoretically. In this study, using microseconds molecular dynamics simulations together with an accurate many-body interaction potential, we predict that an Al_{90}Sm_{10} metallic glass would have complex relaxation behaviors: In addition to the main (α) relaxation, the glass (i) shows a pronounced secondary (ß) relaxation at cryogenic temperatures and (ii) exhibits an anomalous relaxation process (α_{2}) accompanying α relaxation. Both of the predictions are verified by experiments. Computational simulations reveal the microscopic origins of relaxation processes: while the pronounced ß relaxation is attributed to the abundance of stringlike cooperative atomic rearrangements, the anomalous α_{2} process is found to correlate with the decoupling of the faster motions of Al with slower Sm atoms. The combination of simulations and experiments represents a first glimpse of what may become a predictive routine and integral step for glass physics.
RESUMEN
In glassy materials, the Johari-Goldstein secondary (ß) relaxation is crucial to many properties as it is directly related to local atomic motions. However, a long-standing puzzle remains elusive: why some glasses exhibit ß relaxations as pronounced peaks while others present as unobvious excess wings? Using microsecond atomistic simulation of two model metallic glasses (MGs), we demonstrate that such a difference is associated with the number of string-like collective atomic jumps. Relative to that of excess wings, we find that MGs having pronounced ß relaxations contain larger numbers of such jumps. Structurally, they are promoted by the higher tendency of cage-breaking events of their neighbors. Our results provide atomistic insights for different signatures of the ß relaxation that could be helpful for understanding the low-temperature dynamics and properties of MGs.