Anomalous crystallization as a signature of the fragile-to-strong transition in metallic glass-forming liquids

We study the fragile-to-strong (F-S) transition of metallic glass-forming liquids (MGFLs) by measuring the thermal response during annealing and dynamic heating of La₅₅Al₂₅Ni₅Cu₁₅ glass ribbons fabricated at different cooling rates. We find that the glasses fabricated in the intermediate regime of cooling rates (15-25 m/s) exhibit an anomalous crystallization behavior upon reheating as compared to the glasses formed at other cooling rates. This anomalous crystallization behavior implies the existence of a thermodynamic F-S transition, could be used as an alternative method for detecting the F-S transition in MGFLs, and sheds light on the structure origin of the F-S transition. This work also contributes to obtaining a general thermodynamic picture of the F-S transition in supercooled liquids.