Spatial organization of electronic redistribution correlates with glass-forming ability in amorphous Ni-Zr-Ta alloys

Glass-forming ability (GFA) strongly affects the processable size and service stability of amorphous alloys, but its relationship with electronic-scale features is still not well understood. In this work, three Ni-Zr-Ta amorphous alloys with relatively high, medium, and low GFA, namely Ni59Zr30Ta11, Ni51Zr32Ta17, and Ni47Zr32Ta21, were compared to examine differences in electronic spatial organization. Differential charge density analysis, bond-resolved electronic descriptors, and statistical analysis of local positive charge distribution were used. The high-GFA alloy Ni59Zr30Ta11 shows a more balanced spatial distribution of positive charge and stronger cooperative electronic responses between unlike atomic pairs. By contrast, the low-GFA alloy Ni47Zr32Ta21 forms larger local positive charge enrichment regions and exhibits stronger spatial heterogeneity. Kernel density analysis further shows that the high-GFA alloy Ni59Zr30Ta11 has a more concentrated local positive charge distribution, whereas the low-GFA alloy Ni47Zr32Ta21 displays broader distributions with more evident peak splitting. Overall, these results show a clear correlation between electronic spatial organization and GFA in Ni-Zr-Ta amorphous alloys, and provide an electronic structure-based perspective for understanding GFA differences in multicomponent amorphous alloys.