Hidden amorphous phase and reentrant supercooled liquid in Pd-Ni-P metallic glasses

S. Lan, Y. Ren, X. Y. Wei, B. Wang, E. P. Gilbert, T. Shibayama, S. Watanabe, M. Ohnuma and X. -L. Wang ()
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S. Lan: Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Y. Ren: Argonne National Laboratory
X. Y. Wei: City University of Hong Kong
B. Wang: City University of Hong Kong
E. P. Gilbert: Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO)
T. Shibayama: Laboratory of Quantum Beam System, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University
S. Watanabe: Laboratory of Quantum Beam System, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University
M. Ohnuma: Laboratory of Quantum Beam System, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University
X. -L. Wang: City University of Hong Kong

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract An anomaly in differential scanning calorimetry has been reported in a number of metallic glass materials in which a broad exothermal peak was observed between the glass and crystallization temperatures. The mystery surrounding this calorimetric anomaly is epitomized by four decades long studies of Pd-Ni-P metallic glasses, arguably the best glass-forming alloys. Here we show, using a suite of in situ experimental techniques, that Pd-Ni-P alloys have a hidden amorphous phase in the supercooled liquid region. The anomalous exothermal peak is the consequence of a polyamorphous phase transition between two supercooled liquids, involving a change in the packing of atomic clusters over medium-range length scales as large as 18 Å. With further temperature increase, the alloy reenters the supercooled liquid phase, which forms the room-temperature glass phase on quenching. The outcome of this study raises a possibility to manipulate the structure and hence the stability of metallic glasses through heat treatment.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14679

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