Heterogeneous microstructure of Zr46Cu46Al8 nanoglasses studied by quantifying glass-glass interfaces

Abstract Heterogeneous microstructure of Zr46Cu46Al8 nanoglasses was studied by molecular dynamics simulation. Glass-glass interfaces in nanoglasses could be told apart by formulating a contrast in the number of the quasi-nearest atom. Compared to other short-range order analysis, the quasi-nearest atom can reflect the deviated densely packing atomic clusters at the glass-glass interfaces directly. In terms of geometric and chemical short-range order, the low local fivefold symmetry and chemical segregation of interfaces improve the structural heterogeneity of nanoglasses. The local deformation preferentially takes place at the interfaces with a larger number of quasi-nearest atoms, achieving local plastic deformation tuned visually at the glass-glass interfaces. The correlation between structural and deformation properties is quantitatively assessed by tuning glass-glass interfaces. It is envisioned that the interfaces, as weak regions, can be a critical defect to tune the heterogeneous microstructure of nanoglasses.