Microheterogeneity of liquid metallic solutions and its influence on the structure and properties of rapidly quenched alloys

The appearance of microdomains enriched with one of the components in metallic glasses is considered to be a result of microheterogeneity in the initial melts. The microheterogeneous state in liquid alloys is a long-lived metastable or non-equilibrium one with prolonged relaxation time. it is inherited from initial crystalline samples or formed during components mixing slightly above liquidus or immiscibility domain. The characteristic scale of the microheterogeneity is approximately 10-100 nm. Some new experimental data confirming these ideas are demonstrated and the possible structural changes of the melts due to temperature increase or other factors are discussed also. The influence of the melt's structural state on the structure and properties of rapidly quenched crystalline and amorphous alloys is described. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.