Understanding the maximum dynamical heterogeneity during the unfreezing process in metallic glasses

B Wang and LJ Wang and WH Wang and HY Bai and XQ Gao and MX Pan and PF Guan, JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 121, 175106 (2017).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4982914

The dynamic behaviors displayed during the unfreezing process of metallic glasses are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The non-monotonic variation of dynamical heterogeneity as temperature increases can be understood microscopically by the flow unit perspective. This variation of dynamical heterogeneity exhibits a peak at the temperature T-alpha 2,T-max below the related alpha-relaxation temperature. Meanwhile, the T-alpha 2,T-max signaling the maximum dynamical heterogeneity is found to be the onset temperature at which the largest activated cluster starts to present the percolation property. Our results give hints to the understanding of low temperature relaxation and the related correlation with alpha relaxation in metallic glasses. Published by AIP Publishing.

Return to Publications page