Ultrastrong and Ultrastable Metallic Glass

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that metallic glasses can achieve enhanced thermal stability and mechanical strength through slow deposition at high temperatures, revealing atomic-level structural insights and potential for broader applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to produce ultrastable metallic glasses with significantly improved stability and strength, linked to increased medium-range atomic order.

Findings

Thermal stability increased by over 50 K and crystallization temperature by 203 K.

Mechanical strength and hardness improved by over 30%.

Atomic structure shows increased medium-range order.

Abstract

The lack of thermal stability, originating from their metastable nature, has been one of the paramount obstacles that hinder the wide range of applications of metallic glasses. We report that the stability of a metallic glass can be dramatically improved by slow deposition at high temperatures. The glass transition and crystallization temperatures of the ultrastable metallic glass can be increased by 51 K and 203 K, respectively, from its ordinary glass state. The ultrastable metallic glass also shows ultrahigh strength and hardness, over 30 % higher than its ordinary counterpart. Atomic structure characterization reveals that the exceptional properties of the ultrastable glass are associated with abundance of medium range order. The finding of the ultrastable metallic glass sheds light on atomic mechanisms of metallic glass formation and has important impact on the technological applications of metallic glasses.