Investigations of mechanically alloyed Ni-Zr-Ti-Si amorphous alloys with significant supercooled regions

This study examined the amorphization behavior of Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti_23-xSi_x (x = 0, 1, 3) alloy powders synthesized by mechanical alloying technique. According to the results, after 5 h of milling, the mechanically alloyed powders were amorphous at compositions of Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti_23-xSi_x (x = 0, 1, 3). The amorphization behavior of Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti₂₀Si₃ was examined in details. The conventional X-ray diffraction and synchrotron EXAFS results confirm that the fully amorphous powders formed after 5 h of milling. The thermal stability of the Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti_23-xSi_x amorphous powders was investigated by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). As the results demonstrated, the amorphous powders were found to exhibit a large supercooled liquid region before crystallization. The supercooled liquid regions, defined by the difference between T_g and T_x, (i.e. ΔT = T_g-T_x), are 95 K, 66 K, and 88 K, for Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti₂₃, Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti₂₂Si₁, and Ni₅₇Zr₂₀Ti₂₀Si₃, respectively.