A computer and analytic study of the metallic liquid–glass transition. II. Structure and mean square displacements

A study, using both computational and analytic techniques, of the extent to which the cage concept of liquids applies to the metallic liquid–glass transition is presented. Monte Carlo calculations on a Ca0.7Mg0.3 system yield the angular distribution functions required to determine the cage structure and the atomic motion. The analysis parallels that for normal liquids. The results indicate that the cages are icosahedral, that they exist from the melting temperature down into the glass state, and that the cage concept applies quantitatively to the static properties of metallic binary alloys. Finally, the cage concept itself does not appear to describe fully atomic diffusion in metallic systems.