非晶态金属是指在原子尺度上结构无序的一种金属材料。大部分金属材料具有很高的有序结构，原子呈现周期性排列（晶体），表现为平移对称性，或者是旋转对称，镜面对称，角对称（准晶体）等。而与此相反，非晶态金属不具有任何的长程有序结构，但具有短程有序和中程有序（中程有序正在研究中）。一般地，具有这种无序结构的非晶态金属可以从其液体状态直接冷却得到，故又称为“玻璃态”。所以，非晶态金属又称为「金属玻璃」（Glassy metal、Metallic Glass）、“玻璃态金属”、「液态金属」（Liquid metal）或大块金属玻璃（Bulk Metallic Glass，BMG）是一种具有较低冷却速度极限的非晶态金属，所以该种金属合金可以制备出尺度超过1毫米的金属片或金属圆柱。制备非晶态金属的方法包括：物理气相沉积、固相烧结法、离子辐射法、甩带法（连续铸造法其中一种）和机械法。

An amorphous metal (also known metallic glass or glassy metal) is a solid metallic material, usually an alloy, with a disordered atomic-scale structure. Most metals are crystalline in their solid state, which means they have a highly ordered arrangement of atoms. Amorphous metals are non-crystalline, and have a glass-like structure. But unlike common glasses, such as window glass, which are typically electrical insulators, amorphous metals have good electrical conductivity. There are several ways in which amorphous metals can be produced, including extremely rapid cooling, physical vapor deposition, solid-state reaction, ion irradiation, and mechanical alloying.