[Download]Name: Xue R J, Zhao L Z, Shi C L, et al. Enhanced kinetic stability of a bulk metallic glass by high pressure[J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2016, 109(22): 221904.

Class: 2016

Content:

Glasses are usually prepared by quenching from their glass-forming liquids that lose the flow ability, and are unable to reach the equilibrium states within the experimental time scale1-3. Owing to the nonequilibrium and metastable nature, glasses are accompanied by relaxations all the time, which deteriorate thier properties and hinder thier applications. Although extensive efforts have been devoted to search for ultrastable glass, to the best of our knowledge, only the 2D film deposited ultrastable glasses can be fabricated so far4-7. Here, we report the formation of an ultrastable Pd40.16Ni9.64Cu30.12P20.08 metallic glass (MG) with bulk size of ~ 3 mm in diameter and 3 mm in length under high pressure. The bulk ultrastable Pd40.16Ni9.64Cu30.12P20.08 MG shows remarkably enhanced thermal and kinetic stability with substantially increased glass transition temperature Tg, crystallization temperature Tx, density and mechanical properties. Furthermore, this unique thermal and kinetic stability can be reinforced by increasing pressure and maintained even above Tg. This result demonstrates that the high pressure is a unique and effective method to produce bulk MGs with high thermal and kinetic stability and excellent properties, which could advance the MG design and the understanding of the fundamental issues in MGs.