Understanding the Properties and Structure of Metallic Glasses at the Atomic Level

Liquids and glasses have been well known to human kind for millennia. And yet major mysteries remain in the behavior of glasses and liquids at the atomic level, and identifying the microscopic mechanisms that control the properties of glasses is one of the most challenging unsolved problems in physical sciences. For this reason, applying simplistic approaches to explain the behavior of metallic glasses can lead to serious errors. On the other hand because metallic glasses are atomic glasses with relatively simple structure, they may offer better opportunities to advance our fundamental understanding on the nature of the glass. The difficulties inherent to the problem and some recent advances are reviewed here.