Heredity of medium-range order structure from melts to amorphous solids

A medium-range order (MRO) structure characterized by the pre-peaks in the structure factor S(Q) curves of typical glass-forming Au55Cu25Si20 melt has been detected using the high temperature x-ray diffractometer. Combining the ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and the experiments, we explore and discuss the structure of the MRO cluster. During the rapid solidification, some structural information carried by the MRO structure is inherited from the melt to the amorphous solid, which promotes the glass formation. Through the comparison of microstructures between amorphous and crystal phases, we also discuss the heredity mechanism.