Effect of mixing enthalpy on the β-relaxation in Zr-Cu and Zr-Ni metallic glasses

The β-relaxation is the principal source of the dynamics in glassy state, but its structural origin is still not well understood. In the present paper, the correlation between the β-relaxation and mixing enthalpy was studied, and the chemical effect was interpreted from the aspect of local structure. The dynamic mechanical measurements and molecular dynamics simulation were performed for Zr-Cu and Zr-Ni metallic glasses. Results indicate the smaller negative mixing enthalpy facilitates the formation of the icosahedral clusters, and atom motion related to the β-relaxation is hindered by icosahedral clusters with high dynamic stability. © 2016, Science Press. All right reserved.