J Wen et al 2007 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19 455211 doi:10.1088/0953-8984/19/45/455211
J Wen1, H W Yang1, H Guo1, B Wu1, M L Sui1, J Q Wang1 and E Ma2
Show affiliationsAl-based metallic glasses with relatively high glass-forming ability have been studied using fluctuation electron microscopy (FEM). These glasses exhibited well-defined glass transition and remained fully amorphous throughout the FEM experiments. Peaks were observed in the normalized intensity variance curves, evolving with sample composition and thermal history, while diffraction patterns remained identical. Specifically, minor alloying of Co into the Al85Ni5Y10 glass improved its medium-range homogeneity. This is in accord with, and partly explains, the increase in the glass-forming ability. After annealing of Al85Ni5Y8Co2 below its glass transition temperature, FEM suggests structural homogenization or intensified medium-range fluctuations, depending on the annealing temperature. Such dissolution versus growth of quenched-in heterogeneity accompanying structural relaxation was not detectable using other techniques.
Issue 45 (14 November 2007)
Received 4 August 2007, in final form 5 August 2007
Published 24 October 2007
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