NEW HOT PAPERS

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

A vibrant international effort has been underway for many years in the understanding, development, and application of metallic glasses. This paper describes the atomic structure of metallic glasses, which is important for nearly every aspect of metallic glass research.

Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or synthesis of knowledge?

The efficient filling of space is an issue of intense, longstanding interest. Over the centuries, a great deal of effort has been spent to describe the way in which spheres can most efficiently fill space. This problem impacts fields as diverse as cosmology, soil compaction, agriculture, communication theory, packaging, and the atomic structure of solids, where atoms try to minimize the space they fill. This paper combines ideas from mathematics, physics, and chemistry to come up with a fundamentally new approach for the efficient packing of unequal spheres.

Would you summarize the significance of your paper in layman’s terms?

The atomic structure of materials controls their properties and behavior. A clear description of atomic structure not only allows scientists to understand properties, it also guides efforts to control and improve materials—from semiconductors, to magnets, to biological and optical and structural materials. The atomic structure is known in great detail for nearly all advanced materials, but the structure of metallic glasses has remained a mystery since they were first discovered over 45 years ago.

While some details remain unresolved, this paper gives the first simple, physically-based model for the atomic structure of metallic glasses. This model has improved the ability to develop new metallic glasses, and is also providing a foundation from which more complete scientific knowledge of metallic glasses can be obtained.

How did you become involved in this research, and were there any problems along the way?

This paper describes a structure with a strange co-existence of atomic order and disorder. This combination challenges expectations that a structure should be either ordered or disordered—one or the other—but not both at the same time. This apparent contradiction has made communication and acceptance of the idea a little more challenging than usual.

Where do you see your research leading in the future?

I’m interested in applying this structural model to gain a fuller understanding of the stability and deformation of metallic glasses.

Do you foresee any social or political implications for your research?

There's a better chance of cultural and commercial impacts. I think of metallic glasses as a “stealth” technology. They’re in common use, but very few of us realize that we’re using metallic glasses. Current applications include anti-theft metal strips on items from CDs (look inside the raised plastic UPC label) to fur coats; corrosion-resistant coatings for razors; hinges on all those little mirrors in digital projectors; low-loss magnetic transformers; and high-tech golf club heads.

The biggest barriers to more extensive use are the ability to produce metallic glasses in bulk, and the ability to fundamentally change the way they deform. A good understanding of the atomic structure has the potential overcome these barriers.

Dr. Daniel B. Miracle
Senior Scientist
Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Air Force Research Laboratory
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA