Elastic properties of Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 bulk glass in supercooled liquid region

In situ ultrasonic measurements for the Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 bulk glass in three states: Glassy solid, supercooled liquid, and crystalline, have been performed. It is found that velocities of both longitudinal and transverse waves and elastic moduli (shear modulus, bulk modulus, Young's modulus, and Lame parameter), together with Debye temperature, gradually decrease with increasing temperature through the glass transition temperature as the Poisson's ratio increases. The behavior of the velocity of transverse wave vs. temperature in the supercooled liquid region could be explained by viscosity flow, rather than the two different crystallization processes in the region, suggested in the literature. No decomposition was detected at a temperature only 5 K below the crystallization temperature. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.