On Structural Rearrangements during the Vitrification of Molten Copper

We utilise displacement analysis of Cu-atoms between the chemical bond-centred Voronoi polyhedrons to reveal structural changes at the glass transition. We confirm that the disordered congruent bond lattice of Cu loses its rigidity above the glass transition temperature (T-g) in line with Kantor-Webman theorem due to percolation via configurons (broken Cu-Cu chemical bonds). We reveal that the amorphous Cu has the T-g = 794 +/- 10 K at the cooling rate q = 1 x 10(13) K/s and that the determination of T-g based on analysis of first sharp diffraction minimum (FDSM) is sharper compared with classical Wendt-Abraham empirical criterion.

Automated summary

We utilize displacement analysis of Cu-atoms to reveal structural changes at the glass transition. The disordered congruent bond lattice of Cu loses rigidity above the glass transition temperature (T-g) due to percolation via broken Cu-Cu chemical bonds. Analysis of the first sharp diffraction minimum (FDSM) provides a more precise determination of T-g compared to classical empirical criteria.