Breaking the vitrification limitation of monatomic metals.
Nat Mater
; 2024 Jul 30.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39080501
ABSTRACT
The question of whether all materials can solidify into the glassy form proposed by Turnbull half a century ago remains unsolved. Some of the simplest systems of monatomic metals have not been vitrified, especially the close-packed face-centred cubic metals. Here we report the vitrification of gold, which is notoriously difficult to be vitrified, and several similar close-packed face-centred cubic and hexagonal metals using a method of picosecond pulsed laser ablation in a liquid medium. The vitrification occurs through the rapid cooling during laser ablation and the inhibition of nucleation by the liquid medium. Using this method, a large number of atomic configurations, including glassy configurations, can be generated simultaneously, from which a stable glass state can be sampled. Simulations demonstrate that the favourable stability of monatomic metals stems from the strong topological frustration of icosahedra-like clusters. Our work breaks the limitation of the glass-forming ability of matter, indicating that vitrification is an intrinsic property of matter and providing a strategy for the preparation and design of metallic glasses from an atomic configuration perspective.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Mater
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIA
/
QUIMICA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China