Undercooled liquid-to-glass transition during continuous cooling in Pd-Cu-Ni-P alloys

The glass-transition behavior from the supercooled liquid of a Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 alloy was investigated by employing a power-compensated differential scanning calorimetry under continuous cooling. At cooling rates of 0.83, 1.17, and 1.67 K/s, the transition was clearly detected as an abrupt decrease in heat capacity. From the difference in heat capacity between the undercooled liquid and glass, the alloy obtained at the lower cooling rate was found to have a more relaxed structure. The thermodynamic parameters determined in the present study enable us to interpret the reason for the outstandingly high glass-forming ability of the alloy. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04126-7].