Matching glass-forming ability with the density of the amorphous phase

The density of the amorphous phase of metals is generally thought to be related to glass formation, but this correlation has not been demonstrated experimentally to date. In this work, systematic deflection measurements using microcantilevers and a combinatorial deposition method show a correlation between glass-forming ability and the density change upon crystallization over a broad compositional range in the copper-zirconium binary system. Distinct peaks in the density of the amorphous phase were found to correlate with specific maxima in the critical thickness for glass formation. Our findings provide quantitative data for the development of structural models of liquids that are readily quenched to the amorphous state. The experimental method developed in this work can facilitate the search for new glass-forming alloys.