Detailed structural analysis of amorphous Pd40Cu40P20: Comparison with the metallic glass Pd40Ni40P20 from the viewpoint of glass forming ability

To clarify the relationship between glass-forming ability (GFA) and local atomic structure of Pd-based metallic glasses, structures an amorphous Pd40Cu40P20 (PCP) were investigated using same methods as for Pd40Ni40P20 (PNP) glass, i.e., by a combination anomalous X-ray scattering, neutron diffraction, reverse Monte Carlo modeling. From comparison results PNP with excellent GFA PCP worse GFA, important features characteristic to are found in hyper-ordered structures. Firstly, compositional inhomogeneity Cu is larger than Ni PNP. Secondly, Voronoi tessellation reveals that icosahedral arrangements considerable probability around atoms PNP, while less existence PCP. Thirdly, persistent homology (PH) analysis shows smaller intermediate-size PH rings