Despite numerous studies on the glass transition and the related relaxation dynamics, the physical mechanism of activation of multiscale relaxation events under various external stimuli in amorphous materials is still unclear. In this study, by combining traditional differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Flash DSC with heating rates spanning over five orders of magnitude, the thermodynamic responses have been systematically studied for several fragile and strong metallic glasses (MGs). A common endothermic event, before the glass transition, is detected when the heating rate increases above a critical value for fragile MGs. This endothermic event is verified to represent the activation of secondary $\beta$ relaxation (Johari-Goldstein relaxation), which is commonly found in amorphous materials. For fragile MGs, with an increase in fragility, the critical heating rate to separate $\beta$ relaxation from $\alpha$ relaxation decreases. In contrast, the $\beta$ relaxation does not appear within the current experimental heating rate limit for strong glass systems. Finally, based on the potential energy landscape model and the flow unit model of the heterogeneous structure for MGs, a pathway is proposed for the fragile and strong MGs to understand the physical mechanism for the separation of $\beta$ relaxation from $\alpha$ relaxation via ultrafast heating. This study clearly demonstrates that the Flash DSC with a wide heating rate range is an effective tool to study the relaxation dynamics in amorphous materials.

• Received 6 December 2019
• Accepted 29 January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.4.025602