Linking Topological Medium Range Order and Density-Wave Coherence to Metallic Glass Ductility

Abstract

Metallic glasses exhibit pronounced composition-dependent mechanical properties, yet identifying the structural origins of these changes remains difficult. An outstanding issue is how to correlate different forms of medium range order (MRO), defined at different length scales and accessed through different experimental observables, and to understand their connection to properties. We combine synchrotron reduced density function, G(r), with machine-learning-assisted four dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) to examine geometric and topological MRO in five Zr-based metallic glasses. Density wave analysis of G(r) provides a geometric MRO descriptor through the coherence length of atomic density correlations, while 4D-STEM reveals nanoscale topological and chemical MRO motifs, including crystal-like local ordering with distinct rotational symmetries. We show that the G(r)-derived coherence length captures an important baseline tendency for cooperative ductile relaxation, while composition-dependent topological MRO provides an additional structural contribution that helps explain the observed mechanical responses. In particular, increasing Zr content suppresses Cu-rich FCC-like MRO, increases the cooperative coherence volume, and promotes fine Zr-rich HCP-like local order associated with enhanced ductility. These results identify the combined structural influence of geometric and topological MRO as a key basis for composition-dependent mechanical response in metallic glasses.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{islam2026linking,
  title = {{Linking Topological Medium Range Order and Density-Wave Coherence to Metallic Glass Ductility}},
  author = {Minhazul Islam and Muchen Wang and Andrea Fantin and Geun Hee Yoo and Ji Young Kim and Hamdan Ashfaq and Eun Soo Park and Robert Maass and Yunzhi Wang and Yue Fan and Hee-Suk Chung and Sang-Chul Lee and Jinwoo Hwang},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.36041},
  eprint = {2609.36041},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36041},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Linking Topological Medium Range Order and Density-Wave Coherence to Metallic Glass Ductility
AU  - Minhazul Islam
AU  - Muchen Wang
AU  - Andrea Fantin
AU  - Geun Hee Yoo
AU  - Ji Young Kim
AU  - Hamdan Ashfaq
AU  - Eun Soo Park
AU  - Robert Maass
AU  - Yunzhi Wang
AU  - Yue Fan
AU  - Hee-Suk Chung
AU  - Sang-Chul Lee
AU  - Jinwoo Hwang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/28
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.36041
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36041
AB  - Metallic glasses exhibit pronounced composition-dependent mechanical properties, yet identifying the structural origins of these changes remains difficult. An outstanding issue is how to correlate different forms of medium range order (MRO), defined at different length scales and accessed through different experimental observables, and to understand their connection to properties. We combine synchrotron reduced density function, G(r), with machine-learning-assisted four dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) to examine geometric and topological MRO in five Zr-based metallic glasses. Density wave analysis of G(r) provides a geometric MRO descriptor through the coherence length of atomic density correlations, while 4D-STEM reveals nanoscale topological and chemical MRO motifs, including crystal-like local ordering with distinct rotational symmetries. We show that the G(r)-derived coherence length captures an important baseline tendency for cooperative ductile relaxation, while composition-dependent topological MRO provides an additional structural contribution that helps explain the observed mechanical responses. In particular, increasing Zr content suppresses Cu-rich FCC-like MRO, increases the cooperative coherence volume, and promotes fine Zr-rich HCP-like local order associated with enhanced ductility. These results identify the combined structural influence of geometric and topological MRO as a key basis for composition-dependent mechanical response in metallic glasses.
ER  -

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