Meta-stable quasicrystal formation in vitrified and solid state synthesized amorphous Zr-based alloys

Amorphous Zr70Pd30, Zr70Pd20Cu10, Zr80Pt20, Zr70Pt20Cu10, and Zr57Ti8Nb2.5Cu3.9Ni1.1Al7.5 alloys were prepared by melt spinning and mechanical milling to compare their devitrification behaviors. The melt-spun ribbons transform from an amorphous structure to a meta-stable quasicrystalline phase. This amorphous-to-quasicrystalline transition is not observed in amorphous powders obtained by mechanical milling. Since the mechanical milling process does not involve direct liquid phase formation of an amorphous structure, it is inferred that in the absence of the short-range order obtained directly from the liquid, meta-stable quasicrystalline phase formation is not energetically favored in these Zr-based metallic glasses.