An empirical criterion for predicting the glass-forming ability of amorphous alloys based on electrical transport properties

• A new criterion is proposed for predicting the GFA of metallic glasses.
• The criterion is deduced based on electrical transport properties.
• The reliability of the criterion is confirmed by lots of experimental results.
• The new criterion is helpful for optimizing the compositions in a given system.

Based on the Anderson's theory and Mott–CFO model for the electrical transport properties of disordered materials, an empirical criterion has been proposed for predicting the glass-forming ability (GFA) of amorphous alloys, which is termed as the relative electrical resistivity difference between the amorphous and fully crystallized states at room temperature (RT), i.e., Δρ = (ρamorRT − ρcrysRT)/ρcrysRT, ρamorRT and ρcrysRT denote the room-temperature electrical resistivities of an amorphous alloy and its corresponding crystal, respectively. A higher ∆ρ value of an alloy always correlates with a better GFA, which has been unambiguously confirmed by a large number of results in the Cu–Zr–Al–Ag, La–Ce–Al–Co, and Fe–Mo–Y–B alloy systems. Compared with the widely used criteria the reduced glass transition temperature Trg, the supercooled liquid range ∆Tx, and the parameter γ, in which the glass transition temperature Tg is necessary and its determination is sometimes arbitrary with inaccuracy for some amorphous alloys, ∆ρ can be quite easily and more exactly obtained, and is more consistent with the GFA. The empirical criterion is very useful especially for optimizing the compositions and pinpointing the best glass former with less cost in a given system.