Investigation of short-range order in nanocrystal-forming Zr60Cu20Pd10Al10 metallic glass and the mechanism of nanocrystal formation

Rapidly solidified ribbons from the nanocrystal-forming Zr(60)Cu(20)Pd(10)A(10) alloy prepared at various melting liquid temperatures were used to study the influence of the liquid state upon quenched-in nuclei. With lowering quenching liquid temperatures, the small-angle x-ray scattering shows increased related periodic composition fluctuations and the radial distribution function analysis from x-ray diffraction method reveals that the coordination number of Pd around Zr increases. These results provide evidence for the stronger attractive interaction in Zr-Pd, which exhibits large negative mixing enthalpy, leads to the formation of (Zr, Pd)-rich domains of short-range order in the liquid. They remain in the amorphous phase as quenched-in nuclei and therefore contribute to nanocrystalline formation. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.