Are Transition Metal-Rich Metallic Glasses Made Up of Distorted BCC Clusters?

Abstract

A structural model of metal-rich amorphous alloys is proposed. This model differs from the known models of the atomic structure of amorphous metal-rich alloys consisting of transition metal-early transition metal components or of transition metal-metalloid components. The atomic structures of these kinds of alloys were studied by means of synchrotron high energy X-ray diffraction. The results obtained are presented in the form of radial distribution functions suggesting that the atomic structures of amorphous transition metal-rich alloys consist of clusters with chemically disordered and structurally distorted bcc cells, irrespective of the crystal structure of the corresponding pure metallic elements.