Intrinsic correlation between β relaxation and electronic heterogeneity in high entropy metallic glasses

Abstract

In this work, we have successfully produced a series of equal atomic high- and medium-entropy metallic glasses (HE- and ME-MGs) with pronounced β relaxation. However, compared with the conventional MGs, it is difficult to understand the origin of the strong β relaxation behaviors in these HE-MGs based on the existing empirical knowledge. Here we studied the origin of β relaxation from the viewpoint of electronic heterogeneity by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that the behaviors of β relaxation are closely associated with the valence states of the constituent elements, .i.e., the larger number of multivalent constituent elements, the more obvious of β relaxation. Moreover, it is found that the high percentage of high energy valence state in the same multivalent system can also promote β relaxation of the amorphous alloy. Our results provide new insight into understanding the origin of β relaxation and the correlation between dynamics and electronic structure in MGs.