Relaxation dynamics are the central topic in glassy physics. Recently, there is an emerging view that mechanical strain plays a similar role as temperature in altering the relaxation dynamics. Here, we report that mechanical strain in a model metallic glass modulates the relaxation dynamics in unexpected ways. We find that a large strain amplitude makes a fragile liquid become stronger, reduces dynamical heterogeneity at the glass transition and broadens the loss spectra asymmetrically, in addition to speeding up the relaxation dynamics. These findings demonstrate the distinctive roles of strain compared with temperature on the relaxation dynamics and indicate that dynamical heterogeneity inherently relates to the fragility of glass-forming materials.

Using non-linear dielectric techniques, we have measured the dynamics of 5-methyl-3-heptanol at a temperature at which the Kirkwood correlation factor g_K indicates the coexistence of ring- and chain-like hydrogen-bonded structures. Steady state permittivity spectra recorded in the presence of a high dc bias electric field (17 MV/m) reveal that both the amplitude and the time constant are increased by about 10% relative to the low field limit. This change is attributed to the field driven conversion from ring-like to the more polar chain-like structures, and a direct observation of its time dependence shows that the ring/chain structural transition occurs on a time scale that closely matches that of the dielectric Debye peak. This lends strong support to the picture that places fluctuations of the end-to-end vector of hydrogen bonded structures at the origin of the Debye process, equivalent to fluctuations of the net dipole moment or g_K. Recognizing that changes in the ring/chain equilibrium constant also impact the spectral separation between Debye and α-process may explain the difference in their temperature dependence whenever g_K is sensitive to temperature, i.e., when the structural motifs of hydrogen bonding change considerably.