Structural stability of Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 metallic glass in supercooled liquid region

Phase separation of bulk and ribbon Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 glasses, annealed in the supercooled liquid region at ambient pressure and high pressures, has been studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction techniques. DSC measurements show only one glass transition event in all annealed samples, indicating that no phase separation occurs in the alloy annealed in the supercooled liquid region. Phase analyses reveal at least six crystalline phases in the crystallized sample: monoclinic, tetragonal Cu3Pd-like, rhombohedral, fcc-Ni2Pd2P, fcc-(Ni, Pd) solid solution, and body-centered tetragonal (bct) Ni3P-like phases. Annealing treatments under external pressures in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature neither induce phase separation nor alter the glass transition temperature of the Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 bulk glass.