An electronic structure perspective on glass-forming ability in metallic glasses

Through systematic study of glass-forming ability (GFA) and the electronic specific heat coefficient in typical ternary (Cu50Zr50)100−xAlx bulk metallic glasses, we provide compelling experimental evidence that the density of electronic energy states at the Fermi level indeed is closely correlated with the GFA of metallic glasses, and the best GFA can be obtained when the Fermi surfaces nearly touch the quasi-Brillouin boundaries, as predicted by the nearly free electron model. Our results highlight the significance of electronic structural effects on the formation of metallic glasses.