Composition Susceptibility and the Role of One, Two and Three Body Interactions in Glass Forming Alloys: Cu$_{50}$Zr$_{50}$ vs Ni$_{50}$Al$_{50}$

Abstract

In this paper we compare the composition fluctuations and interaction potentials of a good metallic glass former, Cu$_{50}$Zr$_{50}$, and a poor glass former, Ni$_{50}$Al$_{50}$. The Bhatia-Thornton correlations functions are calculated. Inspired by the observation of chemical ordering at the NiAl surface, we derive a new property, R$_{cn}$( q ), corresponding to linear susceptibility of concentration to a perturbation in density. We present a direct comparison of the potentials for the two model alloys, using a 2nd order density expansion, establish that the one body energy plays a crucial role in stabilizing the crystal relative to the liquid in both alloys but that the three body contribution to the heat of fusion is significantly larger in NiAl that CuZr.