| The composition dependence of formation of ternary bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) has been analyzed with crystallographic data concerning 16873 ternary compounds with a composition triangle named L-M-S diagram for relative atomic size of constituent elements of L (Large), M (interMediate), and S (Small). As well as ternary compounds containing Cu2Mg, Fe2P and C6Cr23 types, three types of ternary BMGs characterized by the relative atomic size of the main element of L- (La-, Zr-, Pd- and Ca-based BMGs), M- (Fe- and Mg-based BMGs) and S-types (Cu-based BMGs) are plotted in the L-M-S diagram. The L-M-S diagram with plots of all ternary compounds reveals a general tendency that the ternary compounds are frequently formed in the S-rich corner as compared to L- and M-rich corners. The L-M-S diagram shows that Fe2P and C6Cr23 type compounds directly affect the formation of M-type BMGs and also possibly influence the formation of the L-type BMGs. The high glass-forming ability of La-, Zr- and Ca-based BMGs is due to features of their composition regions in the L-M-S diagram wherein ternary compounds infrequently appear and anti-Laves relationship to Cu2Mg type compounds holds in ternary systems. |
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