Devitrification of Mechanically Alloyed Zr-Ti-Nb-Cu-Ni-Al Glassy Powders Studied by Time-Resolved X-ray Diffraction

The crystallization of mechanically alloyed Zr{sub 67}Ti{sub 6.14}Nb{sub 1.92}Cu{sub 10.67}Ni{sub 8.52}Al{sub 5.75} glassy powder is investigated by time-resolved X-ray diffraction. The powder displays a multi-step crystallization behavior characterized by the formation of a metastable nanoscale quasicrystalline phase during the first stage of the crystallization process. At higher temperatures, coinciding with the second crystallization event, the amorphous-to-quasicrystalline transformation is followed by the precipitation of the tetragonal Zr{sub 2}Cu phase (space group I4/mmm) and the tetragonal Zr{sub 2}Ni phase (space group I4/mcm). The transformations are gradual and the quasicrystals and the subsequent phases coexist over a temperature interval of about 25K.