On the structural nature of aluminium-based metallic glasses

The study of crystallization processes of rapidly solidified alloys by means of high-resolution electron microscopy and isothermal calorimetry measurements can help to resolve the long-standing controversies between the amorphous and microcrystalline models in metallic glasses. Close examination of a melt-spun Al90Fe5Gd5 alloy based on these techniques shows that the structural nature of this new family of aluminium-based metallic glasses is truly amorphous, rather than microcrystalline. Based on our calorimetric measurements, the unusual formability of aluminium-rich metallic glasses is also discussed.