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Structural and mechanical signatures of maximally amorphous transition metal alloys

Kristina Komander1, Johan Bylin1, Lennart Spode1, Tuan Tran1, Maciej Kaplan1, Sohal Sondarva1, Paulius Malinovskis1, Ralph H. Scheicher2, and Gunnar K. Pálsson1,*

  • 1Division of Materials Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 524, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
  • 2Division of Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 524, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

  • *Contact author: gunnar.palsson@physics.uu.se
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Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 065605 – Published 15 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sq22-pp67

Abstract

We demonstrate that thin metallic glasses of VxZr100−x, deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering, closely approximate the structural characteristics of theoretically predicted maximally amorphous materials. Experimentally, x-ray reflectometry reveals atomically flat films with well-defined thickness and low surface roughness, while Rutherford backscattering spectrometry confirms V/Zr stochiometry within 1 at.% and a compact, systematically varying density with composition. Transmission electron microscopy shows no evidence of columnar growth, consistent with fully amorphous and homogeneous films. Using ab initio stochastic quenching to generate representative maximally amorphous configurations, we find excellent agreement with experiment in terms of mass density and pair distribution functions. The calculated structures are mechanically stable, elastically isotropic, and exhibit high Poisson ratios and Pugh ratios indicating a characteristically ductile response. The combination of compactness and ductility suggests potential for applications in mechanically resilient coatings and for hydrogen storage, where deformation tolerance and structural integrity are critical. The agreement between simulation and experiment across structural and compositional descriptors supports the conclusion that sputtered V–Zr metallic glasses can be viewed as experimental realizations of statistically maximally amorphous states within the framework of the random valley approximation. We propose such structures can serve as well defined benchmarks for the maximal degree of amorphousness.

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Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 065605– Published 15 June, 2026
  • Received 9 January 2026
  • Accepted 11 May 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

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