The intrinsic nature of glass states or glass transitions has been a mystery for a long time. Recently, more and more studies tend to show that a glass locates at a specific potential energy landscape (PEL). To explore how the flatness of the PEL related to glass transition, we develop a method to adjust the PEL in a controllable manner. We demonstrate that a relatively flat PEL is not only necessary but also sufficient for the formation of a nanoscale glass. We show that: (1) as long as a nanocluster is located in a region of PEL with local minimum deep enough, it can undergo a first-order solid-liquid phase transition; and (2) if a nanocluster is located in a relatively flat PEL, it can undergo a glass transition. All these transitions are independent of its structure symmetry, order or disorder. Our simulations also uncover the direct transition from one potential energy minimum to another below the glass transition temperature, which is the consequence of flat PELs.

中文翻译：

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纳米团簇玻璃形成：潜在的能源前景

玻璃态或玻璃化转变的内在本质长期以来一直是个谜。最近，越来越多的研究倾向于表明玻璃位于特定的势能景观 (PEL)。为了探索 PEL 的平坦度与玻璃化转变的关系，我们开发了一种以可控方式调整 PEL 的方法。我们证明了相对平坦的 PEL 不仅是必要的，而且对于形成纳米级玻璃也是足够的。我们表明：（1）只要纳米团簇位于局部极小值足够深的 PEL 区域，它就可以发生一级固液相变；(2) 如果纳米团簇位于相对平坦的 PEL 中，它可以发生玻璃化转变。所有这些转变都与其结构的对称性、有序性或无序性无关。