Formation of icosahedral quasicrystalline phase in Zr70Ni10M20(M=Pd, Au, Pt) ternary metallic glasses

An icosahedral quasicrystalline phase was confirmed as a primary precipitation phase in melt-spun Zr70Ni10M20 (M=Pd, Au and Pt) ternary metallic glasses with two-stage crystallization process. The onset temperature of the transformation from amorphous to icosahedral phase are 687 K for Pd, 754 K for Au and 783 K for Pt at a heating rate of 0.67 K s(-1). The size of the icosahedral particles is in the range of 5-20 nm. The second crystallization reaction results in the formation of Zr2Ni+Zr2Pd and Zr2Ni+ZrPt phases in the Zr-Ni-Pd and Zr-Ni-Pt alloys, respectively, and Zr3Au phase in the Zr-Ni-Au alloy through a single exothermic reaction. The formation of nanoscale icosahedral phase indicates the possibility that icosahedral short-range order exists in the glassy state. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)00524-6].