Sm-based Sm–Al–Ni ternary bulk metallic glasses

The Sm-based Sm–Al–Ni glass-forming system was investigated using our e/a- and cluster-related criteria. Three bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) Sm₅₄Al₂₃Ni₂₃, Sm₅₆Al₂₂Ni₂₂, and Sm₅₈Al₂₁Ni₂₁ were obtained by suction casting into rods with a diameter of 3 mm. All of them shared a constant e/a = 1.5 and fell along the e/a-constant composition line in the ternary composition chart. The Sm₅₄Al₂₃Ni₂₃ BMG exhibiting the largest T_rg was located at the intersection point of the e/a-constant line and the Sm₇Ni₃-Al cluster line, with thermodynamic parameters of T_g = 548 K at a heating rate of 20 K/min, T_g/T_m = 0.634, and T_g/T_l = 0.615. The Sm₇Ni₃ cluster was a capped trigonal prism derived from the SmNi phase.