Joule heating nanocrystallization of FeZrCuB glass studied by neutron diffraction

The full crystallization process of a single metallic glass ribbon has been studied by means of in situ neutron powder diffraction. The sample has bee n crystallized using the Joule heating method, which consists of passing an electrical current through the sample. The measurements have been carried out, for the first time in this kind of materials, in the D20 instrument at ILL. The analysis of the obtained spectra gives the evolution of the value s of important parameters, as grain size diameter and lattice parameter, of the predominant BCC-Fe phase. These results are compared with values obtai ned from samples annealed in a conventional furnace. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce B.V. All rights reserved.