The Structural and Dynamic Heterogeneities of Ni-P Nanoglass Characterized by Stress-Relaxation

Abstract

The method of stress-relaxation is applied to study the structural and dynamic heterogeneities of Ni-P nanoglass (NG) prepared by pulse electro-deposition. We provide direct evidence that the Ni-P NG has more flow units with better plasticity than conventional Ni-P metallic glass (MG) prepared by rapid quenching. Moreover, an anomalous peak is observed in the activation energy spectra of NG at 435 K, which may relate to a hidden polyamorphous phase transition in Ni-P NG. Our study provides insights on the understanding of the discrepancy in structural heterogeneity and dynamic and thermodynamic properties between the NG and MG.