metallic glass

material science

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June 30, 2026

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Metallic glass is an amorphous solid, meaning its atoms are arranged randomly, unlike the ordered structure of crystalline metals. This atomic disorder affects its properties, such as having lower electrical and thermal conductivity compared to crystalline metals.1

Metallic glasses are typically formed by rapidly cooling molten metal alloys, a process known as melt quenching. This rapid cooling prevents the atoms from arranging into a crystalline structure.2

Applications of metallic glasses include their use in transformer cores due to their magnetic softness and high electrical resistance, which minimizes power loss. They are also used in magnetic recording media and recording heads.1

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amorphous solid
Melt quenching
Preparation of metallic glasses requires a quite rapid quench. The technique shown in Figure 4C, called splat quenching, can quench a droplet of a molten metal roughly 1,000 °C in one millisecond, producing a thin film of metal that is an amorphous solid. In enormous contrast to…
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Preparation of metallic glasses requires a quite rapid quench. The technique shown in Figure 4C, called splat quenching, can quench a droplet of a molten metal roughly 1,000 °C in one millisecond, producing a thin film of metal that is an amorphous solid. In enormous contrast to…
Read More

amorphous solid
Properties and applications of amorphous solids
…atomic-scale disorder present in a metallic glass causes its electrical conductivity to be lower than the conductivity of the corresponding crystalline metal, because the structural disorder impedes the motion of the mobile electrons that make up the electrical current. (This lower electrical conductivity for the amorphous metal can be an…
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…atomic-scale disorder present in a metallic glass causes its electrical conductivity to be lower than the conductivity of the corresponding crystalline metal, because the structural disorder impedes the motion of the mobile electrons that make up the electrical current. (This lower electrical conductivity for the amorphous metal can be an…
Read More