Diffusion kinetics in binary CuZr and NiZr alloys in the super-cooled liquid and glass states studied by nanocalorimetry

Abstract

In this work, we use nanocalorimetry to characterize the diffusion kinetics of Cu-Zr and Ni-Zr glass-forming alloys in both the solid state and the super-cooled liquid state, covering a temperature range from 0.67Tg to 1.49Tg. We find that diffusion in the solid state follows Arrhenius behavior, while the kinetics in the super-cooled liquid state is well described by a fragility-based model that takes into account breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein relationship between the diffusivity and viscosity. The current work uses a single experimental technique to map out the kinetics of diffusion over a broad temperature range in both states.