arXiv subjects

Isabella Gallino

Publications and source records attributed to Isabella Gallino.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Break-down of the relationship between α-relaxation and equilibration in hydrostatically compressed metallic glasses

Glasses encode the memory of any thermo-mechanical treatment applied to them. This ability is associated to the existence of a myriad of metastable amorphous states which can be probed through different experimental pathways. It is usually assumed that this memory can be erased in the supercooled liquid, and that this process occurs on a time scale controlled by the α-relaxation. We find that this assumption does not apply for hydrostatically compressed glasses. Annealing under pressure a prototypical metallic glass can irreversibly modify its dynamics, thermodynamics and structure, reduce the atomic mobility and lead to structural modifications of the first coordination shells which reduce the thermal stability with respect to a glass annealed in absence of pressure. When heated above their glass transition temperature, these compressed glasses do not convert into the pristine supercooled liquid, implying the existence of an additional process, beyond the α-relaxation, contributing to the equilibrium recovery of the material. These results establish pressure as a powerful tool for engineering non-equilibrium glassy materials with tailored properties, while deepening our understanding of relaxation dynamics in disordered systems under extreme conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Recent Advances in Metallic Glasses

This paper reviews recent advances in the field of metallic glasses, focusing on the development of novel experimental techniques and in silico models. We discuss progress in experimental characterization, additive manufacturing, multiscale modeling approaches, and the growing role of machine learning in understanding and designing these complex materials. On the experimental side, we highlight measurements of thermophysical properties of supercooled liquids via fast chip calorimetry and enhancements in mechanical properties through rejuvenation treatments. This work underscores the crucial role of short-range order and medium-range order in controlling metallic glass mechanical properties. Recent progress in structural probes allows in situ observations of deformation mechanisms, positioning the field well to further advance our understanding of mechanical properties. Additive manufacturing of metallic glasses is discussed as one encouraging new manufacturing route for metallic glasses. We examine laser powder-bed fusion process physics and the central trade-off between amorphicity and densification, including heat affected zone devitrification and defects formation, together with emerging mitigation strategies and applications. On the theoretical and simulation side, we review advances in nanoscale, mesoscale, and continuum modeling of metallic glasses that have led to promising approaches by which multiscale schemes can incorporate data sourced from atomic-scale simulations. These efforts have helped to elucidate the connection between the glass structure and mechanical and rheological responses. We also cover the development of machine learning interatomic potentials for metallic glasses, along with machine learning driven prediction of glass forming ability and inverse design methods. Finally, challenges and directions for future research are presented and discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Emergence of multiple relaxation processes during low to high density transition in Au49Cu26.9Si16.3Ag5.5Pd2.3 metallic glass

The existence of multiple amorphous states, or polyamorphism, remains one of the most debated phenomena in disordered matter, particularly regarding its microscopic origin and impact on glassy dynamics. Profiting of the enhanced data quality provided by brilliant synchrotrons, we combined high pressure X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to investigate the atomic dynamics-structure relationship in a Au49Cu26.9Si16.3Ag5.5Pd2.3 metallic glass at room temperature. We identify a structural and dynamical crossover near 3 GPa, marked by avalanches-like massive atomic rearrangements that promote the system toward increasingly compact atomic cluster connections. This crossover superimposes to a pressure-induced acceleration of the atomic motion recently reported, and signals the onset of a transitional state, potentially linked to the nucleation of a new phase within the glass, characterized by the coexistence of two amorphous states with distinct relaxation processes. These results provide evidence for a sluggish, continuous polyamorphic transformation, even in absence of marked structural discontinuities.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

On the interplay of liquid-like and stress-driven dynamics in a metallic glass former observed by temperature scanning XPCS

Modern detector technology and highly brilliant fourth-generation synchrotrons allow to improve the temporal resolution in time-resolved diffraction studies. Profiting from this, we applied temperature scanning X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) to probe the dynamics of a Pt-based metallic glass former in the glass, glass transition region, and supercooled liquid, covering up to six orders of magnitude in time scales. Our data demonstrates that the structural alpha-relaxation process is still observable in the glass, although it is partially masked by a faster source of decorrelation observed at atomic scale. We present an approach that interprets these findings as the superposition of heterogeneous liquid-like and stress-driven ballistic-like atomic motions. This work not only extends the dynamical range probed by standard isothermal XPCS, but also clarifies the fate of the alpha-relaxation across the glass transition and provides a new perception on the anomalous, compressed temporal decay of the density-density correlation functions observed in metallic glasses and many out-of-equilibrium soft materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Disentangling structural and kinetic components of the α-relaxation in supercooled metallic liquids

The particle motion associated to the α-relaxation in supercooled liquids is still challenging scientists due to its difficulty to be probed experimentally. By combining synchrotron techniques, we found the existence of microscopic structure-dynamics relationships in Pt42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 and Pd42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 liquids which allows us to disentangle structural and kinetic contributions to the α-process. While the two alloys show similar kinetic fragilities, their structural fragilities differ and correlate with the temperature dependence of the stretching parameter describing the decay of the density fluctuations. This implies that the evolution of dynamical heterogeneities in supercooled alloys is determined by the rigidity of the melt structure. We find also that the atomic motion not only reflects the topological order but also the chemical short-range order, which can lead to a surprising slowdown of the α-process at the mesoscopic length scale. These results will contribute to the comprehension of the glass transition, which is still missing.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Activation energy spectrum for relaxation and polyamorphism in an ultra-viscous metallic glass former

Many glass-formers exhibit phase transitions between two distinct liquid states. For some metallic glass-formers, the liquid-liquid transition is experimentally found in the supercooled liquid at intermediate temperature between the melting point and the glass transition temperature Tg. We report here on a liquid-liquid transition in an ultra-viscous metallic glass-former, accessed during long-time annealing. This study is conducted on the Au49Cu26.9Si16.3Ag5.5Pd2.3 composition with a liquid-liquid transition temperature slightly lower than Tg. The consequence is that the high-temperature kinetically fragile liquid freezes into the glass during conventional processing and the underlying liquid-liquid transition is thus accessed by the system during annealing below Tg. Upon reheating, the reverse transformation is observed by calorimetry. This conclusion is supported by a broad collection of complementary laboratory and synchrotron-based techniques, such as differential- and fast- scanning calorimetry, and x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Our findings support the big-picture proposed by Angell that liquids with different fragility occupy different flanks of an underlying order-disorder transition. Furthermore, our multiscale analysis reveals the existence of multiple decays of the enthalpy recovery, which is reflected in the observed microscopic ordering and aging mechanism of the glass through distinct stationary regimes interconnected by abrupt dynamical aging regimes.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy Reveals Intermittent Aging Dynamics in a Metallic Glass

We use coherent X-rays to probe the aging dynamics of a metallic glass directly on the atomic level. Contrary to the common assumption of a steady slowing down of the dynamics usually observed in macroscopic studies, we show that the structural relaxation processes underlying aging in this metallic glass are intermittent and highly heterogeneous at the atomic scale. Moreover, physical aging is triggered by cooperative atomic rearrangements, driven by the relaxation of internal stresses. The rich diversity of this behavior reflects a complex energy landscape, giving rise to a unique type of glassy-state dynamics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Thermodynamics, kinetics and fragility of bulk metallic glass forming liquids

This review deals with the kinetic and thermodynamic fragility of bulk metallic glass forming liquids. The experimental methods to determine the kinetic fragility, relaxation behavior and thermodynamic functions of undercooled metallic liquids are introduced. Existing data are assessed and discussed using the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation and in the frameworks of the Adam-Gibbs as well as the Cohen-Turnbull free volume approach. In contrast to pure metals and most non glass forming alloys, bulk glass formers are moderately strong liquids. In general the fragility parameter $D^{*} $ increases with the complexity of the alloy with differences between the alloy families, e.g. noble-metal based alloys being more fragile than Zr-based alloys. At least some bulk metallic glass forming liquids, such as Vitreloy 1, undergo transitions from a fragile state at high temperatures to a strong state at low temperatures with indications that in Zr-based alloys this behavior is a common phenomenon.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Glass transition with decreasing correlation length during cooling of Fe50Co50 superlattice and strong liquids

The glass transition GT is usually thought of as a structural arrest that occurs during the cooling of a liquid, or sometimes a plastic crystal, trapping a metastable state of the system before it can recrystallize to stabler forms1. This phenomenon occurs in liquids of all classes, most recently in bulk metallic glassformers2. Much theoretical interest has been generated by the dynamical heterogeneity observed in cooling of fragile liquids3, 4, and many have suggested that the slow-down is caused by a related increasing correlation length 5-9. Here we report both kinetics and thermodynamics of arrest in a system that disorders while in its ground state, exhibits a large !Cp on arrest (!Cp = Cp,mobile - Cp,arrested), yet clearly is characterized by a correlation length that is decreasing as GT is approached from above. We show that GT kinetics in our system, the disordering superlattice Fe50Co50, satisfy the kinetic criterion for ideally 'strong' glassformers10, and since !Cp behavior through Tg also correlates10, we propose that very strong liquidsand very fragile liquids exist on opposite flanks of an order-disorder transition - one that is already known for model systems.

physics.chem-ph↗