Electron irradiation damage and the recovery in a Zr-based bulk amorphous alloy Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5

Abstract

Zr-based bulk amorphous alloys have been intensively studied because of their superiority in mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and micro-formability, and of great anticipation of their applications. The damage was introduced into a Zr-based bulk amorphous alloy Zr55Cu 30Al10Ni5 by electron irradiation below 20K. The thermal recovery process from the irradiation damage was studied by using positron lifetime spectroscopy which sensitively detect open volume defects. The introduced damage was completely recovered at the temperature lower than the glass transition temperature by 200K. On the other hand, the X-ray diffraction pattern shows no crystalline peaks even after the recovery of the irradiation damage. This result is considerably different from the previous reports studied in conventional amorphous alloys. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.