title: Soft spots and their structural signature in a metallic glass.
abstract: In a 3D model mimicking realistic Cu64Zr36 metallic glass, we uncovered a direct link between the quasi-localized low-frequency vibrational modes and the local atomic packing structure. We also demonstrate that quasi-localized soft modes correlate strongly with fertile sites for shear transformations: geometrically unfavored motifs constitute the most flexible local environments that encourage soft modes and high propensity for shear transformations, whereas local configurations preferred in this alloy, i.e., the full icosahedra (around Cu) and Z16 Kasper polyhedra (around Zr), contribute the least.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Materials Science and Engineering.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7636, CNRS/Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles/Université Paris 6 Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Université Paris 7 Diderot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France; and.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patinet
authors.affiliation: Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218;
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-4259
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, ema@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: heterogeneity; liquid-like regions; shear transformation zones; structure–property relationship; uncommon motifs