Abstract
Crystallization of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass (Zr50.4Cu 40.6Al9) upon isothermal annealing has been investigated using in-situ neutron diffraction and the pair distribution function (PDF) method. By extracting the contribution of the crystalline phase from the total scattering, we are able to obtain the real-time structure factor and pair distribution function for the crystalline phase as well as its volume fraction. Our analysis shows that the crystallization follows the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami law with a time exponent f 4.0 ± 0.2, indicating a three-dimensional nucleation and growth process. The analysis method established in the present study paves a new way for probing the kinetics of phase transformation for a broad range of non-crystalline materials including liquids and glasses.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 537-542 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |