Metallic glasses are materials with fascinating properties. Due to their amorphous structure, they lack an ordered atomic arrangement, which gives them high strength and exceptional elasticity. However, their application has often been limited by the need for expensive elements or restricted component geometries. 

In her research on „Production Chain lnvestigation of Cu-Ti-based Glass-Forming Alloys via Atomization and Laser Powder Bed Fusion Processes“, Erika Barreto explored how these limitations can be overcome through additive manufacturing. She demonstrated that it is possible to use materials with industrial purity. Interestingly, she found that alloy systems optimized for casting over decades are less suitable for the additive manufacturing process, and simpler, binary systems should be used instead. This discovery is fundamentally new in this field and will have a lasting impact on the application of metallic glasses. 

The Leibniz-IWT congratulates Erika Soares Barreto and wishes her all the best with her exciting start-up “Camsens”.