Decomposition-induced enhancement of elastic modulus in CuZr metallic glass

Metallic glasses usually exhibit lower elastic moduli compared with
their crystalline counterparts. Structural relaxation may impel the
amorphous structures to lower energy states, which is so far the
only way that may moderately elevate the elastic modulus of
metallic glasses. In this study, we found that decomposition of a bi
nary CuZr glass may substantially increase its elastic modulus. With
intensive plastic straining followed by annealing, the as-quenched
homogeneous glass decomposed into two finely spaced (below
10nm)glassyphaseswithdifferent chemicalcompositions. Young’s
modulusofthedecomposedglassis 139%thatoftheas-quenched
one and comparable to the corresponding crystalline phases. The
modulus elevation may be attributed to formation of more ordered
amorphous phases with a high density of glass/glass interfaces.