Abstract Scope |
Metallic glasses have a disordered atomic structure beyond some short- or medium-range order. While the first is associated with nearest neighbor atoms, the latter occurs due to the atoms’ tendency to form clusters of interconnected icosahedral structures as demonstrated in atomistic simulations, giving direct insight into emerging structural length scales (JALCOM 821, 153209, 2020). As discussed in our earlier work (Adv. Func. Mat. 28, 1800388, 2018), measuring structural heterogeneities bears the potential of formulating structure-property relationships for metallic glasses, reminiscent of those that enabled the success of crystalline alloys. But which probing length scale is suitable to experimentally assess the structural state of glassy metals? Here we discuss recent advances made by nano-mechanical testing to spatially resolve property fluctuations in metallic glasses from the nanometer to micrometer scale and demonstrate material-specific and instrument-related challenges along our own and the community’s path to experimentally quantify structural length scales of glassy metals. |