title: Unusual fast secondary relaxation in metallic glass.
abstract: The relaxation spectrum of glassy solids has long been used to probe their dynamic structural features and the fundamental deformation mechanisms. Structurally complicated glasses, such as molecular glasses, often exhibit multiple relaxation processes. By comparison, metallic glasses have a simple atomic structure with dense atomic packing, and their relaxation spectra were commonly found to be simpler than those of molecular glasses. Here we show the compelling evidence obtained across a wide range of temperatures and frequencies from a La-based metallic glass, which clearly shows two peaks of secondary relaxations (fast versus slow) in addition to the primary relaxation peak. The discovery of the unusual fast secondary relaxation unveils the complicated relaxation dynamics in metallic glasses and, more importantly, provides us the clues which help decode the structural features serving as the 'trigger' of inelasticity on mechanical agitations.
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory for Microstructures, Institute of Materials Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072i, China [2] Center for Advanced Structural Materials, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Microstructures, Institute of Materials Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072i, China.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Structural Materials, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Microstructures, Institute of Materials Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072i, China.
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Structural Materials, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Structural Materials, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu