Role of yttrium in glass formation of Ti-based bulk metallic glasses

Starting with Zr of two different purities, Ti-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with a nominal composition of Ti40Zr25Cu12Ni3Be20 were prepared. The effect of the addition of yttrium at levels of 0.2 at.%, 0.4 at.%, 0.5 at.%, 0.6 at.%, and 1 at.% on the glass forming ability (GFA) of the alloy has been investigated by means of metallography, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. Experimental data indicates that high impurity content dramatically reduces the glass forming ability. Microalloying with 0.5 at.% Y is effective in suppressing the crystalline phase formation and alleviating the detrimental effect of oxygen in the low-purity alloy. On the contrary, in the alloy containing high-purity element, the effective yttrium addition is less than 0.4 at.%. The results indicate that the beneficial effect of the optimum dopants is mainly due to scavenging the oxygen impurity via the formation of innocuous phase.