Influence of iron additions on structure and properties of amorphous Zr65Al7.5CU17.5Ni10

Amorphous (Zr65Al7.5Cu17.5N10)(100-x)Fe-x alloys (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 20) prepared by rapid quenching were investigated by DSC, X-ray diffraction, TEM and magnetization measurement. The short-range order of the bulk glass is found to be similar to that of amorphous binary Zr66M33 alloys (M = Cu, Ni, Fe). For x = 20 at.% Fe a small contribution o f magnetic clusters is observed. The amorphous Zr65Al7.5Cu17.5Ni10 alloy cr ystallizes eutectically into CuZr2 and Zr6NiAl2 Fe addition leads to a chan ged crystallization sequence. A metastable f.c.c. phase (NiTi2-type) is for med for x greater than or equal to 1 at.% iron. With increasing iron conten t the metastable cubic phase becomes stabilized and the microstructure in t he first stage of crystallization changes into a nanocrystalline state. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.