Europhys. Lett., 71 (4), pp. 611-617 (2005)
DOI: 10.1209/epl/i2005-10124-1

Pressure-temperature-time-transition diagram in a strong metallic supercooled liquid

W. H. Wang¹, W. Utsumi² and X.-L. Wang<sup>3

1</sup>  Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Beijing 100080, PRC
²  Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, SPring-8 - Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
³  Spallation Neutron Source and Metals Ceramics Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA

whw@aphy.iphy.ac.cn

received 10 February 2005; accepted in final form 20 June 2005
published online 22 July 2005

Abstract
The crystallization kinetics and nucleation mechanism of a bulk metallic glass-forming alloy (vit4) in the entire supercooled liquid region (SLR) is investigated using in situ high-pressure and high-temperature X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation, which allows us for the first time to simultaneously determine the crystallization kinetics and phase evolution of a metallic liquid as a function of time under high pressure. The results are summarized in a pressure-time-temperature-transformation (PTTT) diagram with two time scales. The results suggest that the dominant crystallization mechanism of the BMG is growth-controlled.

PACS
61.43.Fs - Glasses.
62.50.+p - High-pressure and shock wave effects in solids and liquids.
64.70.Dv - Solid-liquid transitions.

© EDP Sciences 2005