Crystallization of Ti33Cu67 metallic glass under high-current density electrical pulses
1 Institute of Solid State Chemistry and Mechanochemistry, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Kutateladze str. 18, Novosibirsk 630128, Russia
2 Lavrentiev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Lavrentiev Ave. 15, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
3 Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Lavrentiev Ave. 13, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
4 Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés (SIMAP-CNRS), Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG), 1130, rue de la Piscine - 38402 Saint-Martin-d'Hères Campus, France
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:512 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-512Published: 26 August 2011
We have studied the phase and structure evolution of the Ti33Cu67 amorphous alloy subjected to electrical pulses of high current density. By varying the pulse parameters, different stages of crystallization could be observed in the samples. Partial polymorphic nanocrystallization resulting in the formation of 5- to 8-nm crystallites of the TiCu2 intermetallic in the residual amorphous matrix occurred when the maximum current density reached 9.7·108 A m-2 and the pulse duration was 140 μs, though the calculated temperature increase due to Joule heating was not enough to reach the crystallization temperature of the alloy. Samples subjected to higher current densities and higher values of the evolved Joule heat per unit mass fully crystallized and contained the Ti2Cu3 and TiCu3 phases. A common feature of the crystallized ribbons was their non-uniform microstructure with regions that experienced local melting and rapid solidification.
PACS: 81; 81.05.Bx; 81.05.Kf.