How a supercooled liquid borrows structure from the crystal.

Abstract

Using computer simulations, we establish that the structure of a supercooled binary atomic liquid mixture consists of common neighbor structures similar to those found in the equilibrium crystal phase, a Laves structure. Despite the large accumulation of the crystal-like structure, we establish that the supercooled liquid represents a true metastable liquid and that liquid can "borrow" the crystal structure without being destabilized. We consider whether this feature might be the origin of all instances of liquids with a strongly favored local structure.