A structural signature linking local atomic packing to holistic structure in metallic glasses (opens in new tab)

The disordered atomic arrangement of amorphous materials presents fundamental challenges to structural characterization. Similar to how elemental crystals offer basic structure templates for the understanding of crystal lattices, the structure signatures of elemental metallic glasses might also offer insights on how atoms are packed in amorphous systems. Here, we created an elemental metallic glasses database containing 51 elements via ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. By analyzing th...