Crystallization behavior and mechanical response of metallic glass induced by ion irradiation at elevated temperature

Abstract

When exposed to heavy-ion radiation, metallic glasses (MGs) often exhibit an excellent irradiation tolerance at room temperature compared with their crystalline counterparts; however, their structural evolution and mechanical response at elevated temperature is largely unknown. Here, the phase stability and crystallization behavior of ZrTiHfCuBeNi MG were investigated by irradiating it with an 8.0 MeV Xe29+ ion beam at 550°C. Nanocrystal precipitation randomly appeared in the MG matrix at low fluences, which overlapped and aggregated at higher fluences. In addition, non-edge-on faulted dislocations were formed between neighboring grains due to irradiation-induced stress. Moreover, delays in the first pop-in events after irradiation were attributed to irradiation-induced structural rearrangement and the precipitation of nanocrystals. This work sheds light on the structural evolution and mechanical properties of MGs when irradiated at elevated temperature.