biostudies-literatureUnknown14(1)Sun YTHow glasses relax at room temperature is still a great challenge for both experimental and simulation studies due to the extremely long relaxation time-scale. Here, by employing a modified molecular dynamics simulation technique, we extend the quantitative measurement of relaxation process of metallic glasses to room temperature. Both energy relaxation and dynamics, at low temperatures, follow a stretched exponential decay with a characteristic stretching exponent β = 3/7, which is distinct from that of supercooled liquid. Such aging dynamics originates from the release of energy, an intrinsic nature of out-of-equilibrium system, and manifests itself as the elimination of defects through localized atomic strains. This finding is also supported by long-time stress-relaxation experiments of various metallic glasses, confirming its validity and universality. Here, we show that the distinct relaxation mechanism can be regarded as a direct indicator of glass transition from a dynamic perspective.Nature communications540https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9892575biostudies-literatureDistinct relaxation mechanism at room temperature in metallic glass.PMC9892575Bai HYZhao RDing DWSun YTLiu YHLi MZWang WHfalseDistinct relaxation mechanism at room temperature in metallic glass.How glasses relax at room temperature is still a great challenge for both experimental and simulation studies due to the extremely long relaxation time-scale. Here, by employing a modified molecular dynamics simulation technique, we extend the quantitative measurement of relaxation process of metallic glasses to room temperature. Both energy relaxation and dynamics, at low temperatures, follow a stretched exponential decay with a characteristic stretching exponent β = 3/7, which is distinct from that of supercooled liquid. Such aging dynamics originates from the release of energy, an intrinsic nature of out-of-equilibrium system, and manifests itself as the elimination of defects through localized atomic strains. This finding is also supported by long-time stress-relaxation experiments of various metallic glasses, confirming its validity and universality. Here, we show that the distinct relaxation mechanism can be regarded as a direct indicator of glass transition from a dynamic perspective.2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Feb2025-04-26T12:55:02.089Z2025-04-06T14:07:37.321ZS-EPMC98925753672588210.1038/s41467-023-36300-x