Ultrastability of metallic supercooled liquid induced by vibration

Abstract The range of supercooled liquid region (ΔT) is the key parameter for evaluating the thermal stability and glass-forming ability of metallic glasses. The enhancement of ΔT is of significance not only for the glass formation and stability, but also for their thermoplastic forming ability. Traditional approaches to increase ΔT are composition regulation or dynamical modulation, which are either time-consuming or difficult to be controlled. Here, through a high-frequency ultrasonic vibration treatment, we show that the ΔT of a La-based metallic glass can be significantly widened from 64 K to 83 K, around 30% increment. This behavior is physically originated from the denser atomic packing and a lower stable basin in the energy landscape induced by the ultrasonic vibration energy. This work might provide a ready route to stabilize the supercooled liquid and glass, and give an insight into the understanding of the glass-forming of amorphous materials.