Dimensionless parameter of structural ordering and excess entropy of metallic and tellurite glasses

Using a notion on the excess entropy of glass with respect to the counterpart crystal, we introduce a simple dimensionless order parameter ξ, which changes from ξ→0 to ξ→1. The former case corresponds to a strongly disordered liquid-like structure while the latter instance describes a highly ordered crystal-like glass. This approach is applied to 13 metallic and 2 tellurite glasses. We found that ξ is strongly sensitive to structural state and/or chemical composition. This parameter can be also used for a comparison of the order in glasses belonging to different classes and appears to represent a new way of structural order estimate. It is important that the ordering parameter ξ has a strong correlation with the glass-forming ability.