Structural behavior of CuxZr100-x metallic glass (x=35-70)

The structural behavior of rapidly quenched amorphous CuxZr100-x alloys was investigated in a wide composition range between 35 and 70 at.% Cu content. High-energy X-ray diffraction patterns, atomic pair correlation functions, mass density and the thermal stability behavior of the alloys all exhibit monotonic changes with composition. Partial pair correlation functions were determined assuming that they remain unchanged in the different amorphous CuxZr100-x alloys and only the weight fractions become altered with changes in composition. The experimental results can be well described by a solid solution-like replacement of Cu and Zr atoms in the whole composition ranee. No indications are observed neither for the existence of a special atomic arrangement at a particular chemical composition nor for the presence of phase separation in the glassy state of the binary Cu-Zr system. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.