A Universal Criterion for Plastic Yielding of Metallic Glasses with a (T/Tg)2/3 Temperature Dependence

Room temperature (TR) elastic constants and compressive yield strengths of ~30 metallic glasses reveal an average shear limit gammaC=0.0267±0.0020, where tauY=gammaCG is the maximum resolved shear stress at yielding, and G the shear modulus. The gammaC values for individual glasses are correlated with t=TR/Tg, and gammaC for a single glass follows the same correlation (vs t=T/Tg). A cooperative shear model, inspired by Frenkel's analysis of the shear strength of solids, is proposed. Using a scaling analysis leads to a universal law tauCT/G=gammaC0-gammaC1(t)2/3 for the flow stress at finite T where gammaC0=(0.036±0.002) and gammaC1=(0.016±0.002)

Change of Compressiblity at the Glass Transition and Prigogine-Defay Ratio in ZrTiCuNiBe Alloys

The change of the compressibility at the glass transition Tg is evaluated from pressure experiments in the liquid and the glassy state of the ZrTiCuNiBe bulk metallic glass forming system. Via the enthalpy recovery method, we derive an increase of Tg with pressure of 3.6 K/GPa. Comparing the changes of the compressibility, the specific heat capacity, and the thermal expansion coefficient at Tg, we estimate for the first time a Prigogine-Defay ratio in metallic systems. This ratio is about 2.4 for the present alloy and compares well with known nonmetallic glass forming systems

Plastic deformation of metallic glasses: Size of shear transformation zones from molecular dynamics simulations

Plastic deformation in metallic glasses well below their glass transition temperatures Tg occurs spatially heterogeneously within highly localized regions, termed shear transformation zones (STZs). Yet, their size and the number of atoms involved in a local shear event, remains greatly unclear. With the help of classical molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations on plastic deformation of the model glass CuTi during pure shearing, we address this issue by evaluating correlations in atomic-scale plastic displacements, viz. the displacement correlation function. From the correlation length, a universal diameter of about 15 Å, or, equivalently, approximately 120 atoms is derived for a variety of conditions, such as variable strains, strain rates, temperatures, and boundary conditions. Our findings are consistent with a recent model proposed by Johnson and Samwer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 195501 (2005)]

Structure of glassy early-transition-metal-late-transition-metal hydrides

Hydrogen is used as a probe for obtaining structural information on metallic glasses. Results from experimental radial distribution functions of hydrided and unhydrided Zr3Rh and Zr2Pd glasses show a significant change in the nearest-neighbor distance of Zr atoms. The measured distance suggests that hydrogen occupies mainly tetrahedral sites defined by four Zr atoms under normal hydriding conditions (1 atm H2, ∼200°C). A statistical model for these sites based on current dense-random-packing models is in good agreement with the observed absorption capacity for hydrogen. We predict that H-H interaction should limit the upper value of hydrogen content in Zr-based glasses to 2.5 (H/metal atom)

Characterization of All-Chromium Tunnel Junctions and Single Electron Tunneling Devices Fabricated by Direct-Writing Multilayer Technique

We report about the fabrication and analysis of the properties of Cr/CrO_x/Cr tunnel junctions and SET transistors, prepared by different variants of direct-writing multilayer technique. In all cases, the CrO_x tunnel barriers were formed in air under ambient conditions. From the experiments on single junctions, values for the effective barrier height and thickness were derived. For the Cr/CrO_x/Cr SET transistors we achieved minimal junction areas of 17 x 60 nm^2 using a scanning transmission electron microscope for the e-beam exposure on Si_3N_4 membrane substrate. We discuss the electrical performance of the transistor samples as well as their noise behavior.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

The role of local-geometrical-orders on the growth of dynamic-length-scales in glass-forming liquids

The precise nature of complex structural relaxation as well as an explanation for the precipitous growth of relaxation time in cooling glass-forming liquids are essential to the understanding of vitrification of liquids. The dramatic increase of relaxation time is believed to be caused by the growth of one or more correlation lengths, which has received much attention recently. Here, we report a direct link between the growth of a specific local-geometrical-order and an increase of dynamic-length-scale as the atomic dynamics in metallic glass-forming liquids slow down. Although several types of local geometrical-orders are present in these metallic liquids, the growth of icosahedral ordering is found to be directly related to the increase of the dynamic-length-scale. This finding suggests an intriguing scenario that the transient icosahedral ordering could be the origin of the dynamic-length-scale in metallic glass-forming liquids.Comment: 15 pages, 3 Figure