Glass-forming tendency of bulk La–Al–Ni–Cu–(Co) metallic glass-forming liquids

The excess Gibbs free-energy difference, ΔG1−s, between the undercooled liquid and the crystalline solid for La–Al–Ni–Cu–(Co) alloys was calculated by using directly measured heat capacity data. The glass-forming tendency of these liquids correlated well with the computed Gibbs free-energy difference. The small value of Gibbs free energy of the undercooled liquid with respect to the crystalline solid is a contributing factor to the high glass-forming ability in this system. The kinetics of bulk La–Al–Ni–Cu–(Co) glass-forming liquids were also investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. The fragility plot of the viscosities indicate that these bulk metallic glass formers are strong liquids. The glass-forming ability of these alloys is also explained in the light of this fragility concept.