Correlation between liquid structure and glass forming ability in glassy Ag-based binary alloys

Abstract

The atomic structures of liquid Ag-based binary alloys have been investigated in the solidification process by means of X-ray diffraction. The results of liquid structure show that there is a break point in the mean nearest neighbor distance r1 and the coordination number Nmin for glass-forming liquid, while the correlation radius rc and the coordination number Nmin display a monotone variational trend above the break point. It means glass-forming liquids have a steady changing in structure above liquidus and more inhomogeneous state at liquidus. We conclude that there is a strong correlation between liquid structure and glass forming ability in Ag-based binary alloys.