Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Two-step devitrification of ultrastable glasses. |
| Authors: |
Herrero, Cecilia1 cecilia.herrero-guillen@umontpellier.fr, Scalliet, Camille2, Ediger, M. D.3, Berthier, Ludovic1,4 ludovic.berthier@umontpellier.fr |
| Source: |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 4/18/2023, Vol. 120 Issue 16, Following p1-7. 13p. |
| Subjects: |
Devitrification, Molecular dynamics, Discontinuous precipitation, Glass |
| Abstract: |
The discovery of ultrastable glasses raises novel challenges about glassy systems. Recent experiments studied the macroscopic devitrification of ultrastable glasses into liquids upon heating but lacked microscopic resolution. We use molecular dynamics simulations to analyze the kinetics of this transformation. In the most stable systems, devitrification occurs after a very large time, but the liquid emerges in two steps. At short times, we observe the rare nucleation and slow growth of isolated droplets containing a liquid maintained under pressure by the rigidity of the surrounding glass. At large times, pressure is released after the droplets coalesce into large domains, which accelerates devitrification. This two-step process produces pronounced deviations from the classical Avrami kinetics and explains the emergence of a giant lengthscale characterizing the devitrification of bulk ultrastable glasses. Our study elucidates the nonequilibrium kinetics of glasses following a large temperature jump, which differs from both equilibrium relaxation and aging dynamics, and will guide future experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|
Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Engineering Source |
