Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Condensed-matter physics

Glasses made from pure metals

Nature volume 512, pages 142–143 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

The experimental realization of amorphous pure metals sets the stage for studies of the fundamental processes of glass formation, and suggests that amorphous structures are the most ubiquitous forms of condensed matter. See Letter P.177

On page 177 of this issue, Mao and colleagues1 report a method that allows them to achieve a long-standing goal for materials scientists — the formation of glasses from pure metals. This will enable much-needed studies of glass formation in simple systems, and allows computational modelling of the processes involved.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Ultra-rapid cooling causes a pure metal to form a glass.

Scott X. Mao

References

  1. Zhong, L., Wang, J., Sheng, H., Zhang, Z. & Mao, S. X. Nature 512, 177–180 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Angell, C. A. Science 267, 1924–1935 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Klement, W., Willens, R. H. & Duwez, P. Nature 187, 869–870 (1960).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Inoue, A. Acta Mater. 48, 279–306 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Greer, A. L. Nature 366, 303–304 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Turnbull, D. Contemp. Phys. 10, 473–488 (1969).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bhat, M. H. et al. Nature 448, 787–790 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Schroers, J. Phys. Today 66, 32–37 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Volkert, C. A., Donohue, A. & Spaepen, F. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 083539 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kumar, G., Neibecker, P., Liu, Y.-H. & Schroers, J. Nature Commun. 4, 1536 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jan Schroers is in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.,

    Jan Schroers

Authors
  1. Jan Schroers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Schroers.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schroers, J. Glasses made from pure metals. Nature 512, 142–143 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13653

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13653

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing