Kinetics of structural relaxation in several metallic glasses observed by changes in electrical resistivity

Abstract

Measurements of the kinetics of structural relaxation in transition-metal\char22{}metalloid and transition-metal\char22{}transition-metal metallic glasses as observed by changes in their electrical resistivity are presented. Both positive and negative changes in the resistivity ($\ensuremath{\rho}$) and the temperature coefficient of resistivity ($\ensuremath{\alpha}$) are reported; the sign of $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\rho}$ is opposite to the sign of $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\alpha}$. These observations provide a sensitive new test for theories of the resistivity in disordered metallic alloys. For two transition-metal\char22{}metalloid glasses, ${\mathrm{Pd}}_{82}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{18}$ and ${\mathrm{Pd}}_{77.5}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{6}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{16.5}$, the kinetics of resistivity relaxation are compared with the kinetics of viscosity relaxation using the free-volume model for flow and the Ziman theory of resistivity.