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 4, which changes from 4-+ 0 to 4-+ 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 4 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 4 has a strong correlation with the glass-forming ability.