Test of the adiabatic nucleation theory in metallic and chalcogenide glasses

Abstract

Adiabatic nucleation theory (ANT) has been successfully applied to pure liquid metals, polymers, oxide, chalcogenide, metallic and gel-derived glasses. All thirty seven chalcogenide glasses examined show a glass transition temperature ( T g) above the stability limit, indicated by ANT. This must be the case, because otherwise, when cooled, these glasses (undercooled liquids) would crystallize by generalized nucleation near the stability limit and no T g could be observed. We conclude that ceramics, which do not form glasses, have a normally unknown T g below the stability limit. This explains why these materials crystallize above or at the stability limit. Eighteen metallic glasses examine show a similar behavior, however at the average, the normal, low cooling speed T g s are lower, closer to the stability limit and in some cases, slightly below. Metallic glasses, at the average, are structurally less stable and with few exceptions, must be obtained by fast quenching. It can be suggested that more chalcogenide glasses could be found, using fast quenching techniques.