Crystalline Metal Versus Metallic Glass and Conduction
Date: Fall 2011
Which will have a better electrical conductivity, a crystalline metal or a metallic glass.
I was unable to find any direct data on electrical conductivity of
amorphous metals, however there is data that appears to suggest the
conductivity of amorphous metal is slightly worse than that of the same
metal in crystalline form.
It is known that amorphous metals have lower thermal conductivity
than their crystalline forms, and in most cases decreased thermal
conductivity is accompanied by decreased electrical conductivity.
It is also known that as a metal's crystal structure becomes finer and
more disorganized, electrical conductivity decreases somewhat. An
example of this is the case of copper. Annealed copper, which has
fewer, larger crystals, has slightly better electrical conductivity than
work-hardened copper. Work-hardening copper breaks up the large
crystals into much smaller, and more disorganized ones, resulting in
its electrical conductivity being slightly reduced. Carrying this to it's
logical end, an infinitely small and highly disordered crystal structure
would appear much like a metallic glass. From this, therefore, one can
surmise that a true amorphous metal will indeed have slightly poorer
electrical conductivity than normal crystalline metal of the same type.
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Update: June 2012