Liquid phase as an indicator of glass-forming ability

Abstract

For thermodynamics reasons, most liquids crystallize when they are cooled below their liquidus temperature. However, crystallization can be obstructed if the cooling occurs faster than some critical cooling rate (102 −1010 K/s). Under such conditions, it is suggested that atoms are forced to ‘freeze-in’ at their positions [1,2] with some local short-range order, due to the finite nature of diffusion kinetics, i.e. the rigid state that is produced maintains the disordered or amorphous structure of the liquid. In this short-communication, using CALPHAD (CALculation of Phase Diagrams), we ask, can the underlying atomic interactions within the liquid state be a valid measurement of a material's glass-forming ability?