The slow β-relaxation observed in Ce-based bulk metallic glass-forming supercooled liquid

Dynamic mechanical relaxation measurements are performed on a Ce-based metallic supercooled liquid close to its glass transition temperature T-g. An obvious excess wing is observed both in the temperature and frequency dependent loss modulus curves by the calculation the relaxation time of the alpha-relaxation in supercooled liquid with the fit by the combination of the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts and Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman equation. The results indicate that the slow beta-relaxation process exists in the metallic liquid and arises from the small-scale translational motions of atoms that are linked in its metastable islands. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.