Thermal stabilities of some glassy metals with a wide supercooled liquid region

The thermal stability of a Zr60Al15Ni25 glassy metal was investigated mainly by electrical resistance measurements. In particular, attention was paid to the influence of thermal histories, i.e., the sample preparation condition and the atmosphere during measurement of physical properties. The glass-transition phenomenon was distinctly detected from the change in the electrical resistance with increasing temperature. The electrical resistance behavior of a Pd58Ni25Si17 glassy metal around its glass-transition temperature was also examined for comparison. A similar change in the electrical resistance associated with the glass transition was also observed for this Pd-based glassy metal. It is, therefore, presumed that the electron transport property changes around the glass-transition temperature. Both the glass-transition temperature and the crystallization temperature were almost independent of the thermal history of their samples. However, the temperature derivative of the electrical resistance is significantly dependent on the thermal history.