Real time synchrotron radiation studies on metallic glass (Zr0.55Al0.1Ni0.05Cu0.3)99Y1 after cold rolling

(Zr0.55Al0.1Ni0.05Cu0.3)(99)Y-1 bulk metallic glasses heavily deformed by cold rolling were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) in transmission using high energy monochromatic synchrotron radiation during in situ heat treatment. No crystalline grain was detected in the cold-rolled samples. After deformation, excess free volume, Delta V-f, was measured by X-ray diffraction. In situ heating XRD results revealed that metastable crystalline phase was nucleated and grew before the formation of equilibrium CuZr2. Further investigation showed that the metastable phase is Zr3Al2-type crystalline structure which is the primary crystalline phase that appears in several Zr-based metallic glasses during the thermal treatment [Plappert R, Bostrom M, Kuhn U, Vaughan G, Yavari AR. Kvick angstrom. ISMANAM, Paris; 2005]. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.