The favoured cluster structures of model glass formers

TL;DR

This paper investigates the preferred cluster structures in monatomic glass-forming models, revealing how interatomic potential oscillations influence cluster arrangements and relate to glass-forming ability and fragility.

Contribution

It introduces new potentials and analyzes their cluster structures, linking microscopic arrangements to macroscopic glass-forming properties.

Findings

Oscillations in potentials lead to non-compact 13-atom icosahedral arrangements.

Cluster structures correlate with glass-forming propensity.

Structural properties relate to liquid fragility.

Abstract

We examine the favoured cluster structures for two new potentials, which both behave as monatomic model glass-formers in bulk. We find that the oscillations in the interatomic potential lead to global minima that are non-compact arrangements of linked 13-atom icosahedra. We find that the structural properties of the clusters correlate with the glass-forming propensities of the potentials, and with the fragilities of the corresponding supercooled liquids.