Anomalies in the structure factor for some rapidly quenched metals.

From a molecular-dynamics simulation on the liquid-to-glass transition of 500 In atoms, it is demonstrated that the structure factor S(q) has a peak on the high-q side of its principal peak not only for experimentally reported supercooled Ga liquid but also for those supercooled liquids for which the repulsive part of the interatomic pair potential has a shoulder. This appears to be due to the occurrence of particular clusters in these supercooled liquids. Thereby, an alternative possible physical origin for the presence of a shoulder on the high-q side of the principal peak of S(q) for some metals at their respective melting temperatures is suggested.