Formation and thermal stability of Cu-Zr-Al-Er bulk metallic glasses with high glass-forming ability

Abstract

The formation and thermal stabilities of Cu 46.25Zr 46.25- x Al 7.5Er x , ( x=0 to 8) bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were investigated. The addition of a small amount of Er (2at%) for replacing Zr effectively improves the glass-forming ability of Cu 46.25Zr 46.25Al 7.5 alloy, and the glassy rod with a diameter of at least 12 mm can be formed. The glass transition temperature ( T g), temperature interval of supercooled liquid region Δ T x (= T x − T g, and reduced glass transition temperature T rg (= T g/T 1) of Cu 46.25Zr 44.25Al 7.5Er 2 glassy alloy are 699 K, 62 K and 0.607, respectively.