Atomistic theory of bulk metallic glass formation

Bulk metallic glass can be formed only when the critical cooling rate for glass formation is reduced to 100-2 K/sec. However, a cooling rate achievable with molecular dynamics simulation is higher by many orders of magnitude, so the gap has to be abridged by analytical theories. We propose a theory of bulk metallic glass formation based upon our early theories of glass formation composition. The critical concepts include the idea of local glass transition, distributed local glass transition temperatures and coincident local fluctuation for atomic transport. Strong repulsion between small atoms was recognized for the first time as the necessary condition for bulk glass formation.