Characterization of plasticity-induced structural changes in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass using positron annihilation spectroscopy

Changes in the free volume distribution in Zr58.5Cu15.6Ni12.8Al10.3Nb2.8 bulk metallic glass with inhomogeneous plastic deformation and annealing were examined using positron annihilation spectroscopy. Results indicate that the size distribution of open volume sites is at least bimodal prior to deformation. The size and concentration of the larger sites, identified as flow defects, changes with processing. The size of the flow defects initially increases with deformation. More extensive deformation shifts the distribution, with a third group of much larger sites forming at the expense of flow defects. This suggests that a critical strain is required for the growth of nanovoids observed elsewhere by HRTEM. Although these observations suggest the presence of three open volume size groups, further analysis indicates that all groups have a similar distribution of chemical species around them as evidenced by the same line shape parameter. This may be due to the disordered structure of the glass and the positron affinity to particular atoms surrounding the open volume regions.