TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF DEFORMATION-ASSISTED CRYSTALLIZATION IN AMORPHOUS FE-78 B13SIG

Low-energy ball milling of amorphous Fe78B13Si9 has been performed at temperatures between 25 and 250 degrees C. Primary crystallization is observed after milling at elevated temperatures, but not after anneali ng at the same temperatures. Although milling at room temperature crea tes nucleation sites for primary crystallization, subsequent annealing at elevated temperature does not result in significant crystallizatio n. Heating by ball impact and contamination by the milling tools durin g milling are ruled out as the causes for crystallization. The observe d behavior is interpreted to be caused by diffusivity enhancement due to milling-produced defects. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [ S0003-6951(98)01439-9].