The fate of a liquid, whether it crystallizes or vitrifies, is determined by the cooling rate, but the underlying physical factors influencing this outcome have remained unclear. As a liquid is cooled, the development of structural order occurs to minimize the system's free energy [1-5]. In the case of fragile liquids, we have discovered that the growth of static structural order leads to slow glassy dynamics. However, detecting this structural ordering is challenging since it arises from many-body correlations and is not easily observed using two-body density correlators, unless it involves translational ordering, such as the formation of tetrahedral structures in materials like silica and water [6,7]. Structural ordering acts as a precursor for crystal nucleation and plays a crucial role in selecting polymorphs when it aligns with crystal symmetry [8]. Additionally, we have examined the glass-forming ability of systems with competing orderings and observed that the enhancement of glass-forming ability arises from an increased contrast in structural properties between the liquid and crystal phases [3,9]. These findings collectively suggest that the development of structural order in supercooled liquids governs slow glassy dynamics, crystallization, and the ability to form glassy materials.

[1] H Tanaka, Eur. Phys. J. E 35, 113 (2013); J. Non-Crystal. Solids: X 13, 100076 (2022).

[2] H Tanaka, H Tong, R Shi, J Russo, Nat. Rev. Phys. 1, 333 (2019).

[3] H Shintani, H Tanaka, Nat. Phys. 2, 200 (2006).

[4] H Tanaka, T Kawasaki, H Shintani, K Watanabe, Nat. Mater. 9, 324 (2010).

[5] H Tong, H Tanaka, Phys. Rev. X 8, 011041 (2018); Nat. Commun.10, 5596 (2019); Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 225501 (2020).

[6] R Shi, J Russo, H Tanaka, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 9444 (2018).

[7] R Shi, H Tanaka, Sci. Adv. 5, eaav3194 (2019); J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 2868 (2020).

[8] T Kawasaki, H Tanaka, PNAS 107, 14036 (2010); J Russo, H Tanaka, J. Chem. Phys. 145, 211801 (2016).

[9] J Russo, F Romano, H Tanaka, Phys. Rev. X 8, 021040 (2018).

报告人简介:

Prof. Hajime Tanaka obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1982. After graduation, he became an assistant professor at Prof. Nishi’s Lab., the University of Tokyo. He was promoted to full professor at the Institute of Industrial Science in 1999, the University of Tokyo and held several positions as visiting scientist at AT & T Bell Laboratory and Rutgers, Cavendish Lab., etc. He received the Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan in 2007, and top paper awards from J. Phys.: Condens. Matter in 2004, 2005, 2006 as well as the Liquid Crystal Society in 2010. He won Humboldt Research Award (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany) in 2006 and was elected as a fellow in the Institute of Physics in 2007.

联系人：

廖沁怡