Onset of Cooperative Dynamics in an Equilibrium Glass-Forming Metallic Liquid.

Onset of cooperative dynamics has been observed in many molecular liquids, colloids, and granular materials in the metastable regime on approaching their respective glass or jamming transition points, and is considered to play a significant role in the emergence of the slow dynamics. However, the nature of such dynamical cooperativity remains elusive in multicomponent metallic liquids characterized by complex many-body interactions and high mixing entropy. Herein, we report evidence of onset of cooperative dynamics in an equilibrium glass-forming metallic liquid (LM601: Zr51Cu36Ni4Al9).