Deformation induced bond orientational order in metallic glasses

The structural anisotropy of a metallic glass, Fe81B13Si4C2, deformed under stress to induce anelastic deformation, was studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. In addition to the l = 2 bond orientational order reported earlier, the l = 6 orientational order predicted by computer simulation was observed. Even though the magnitude of the l = 6 term was smaller than predicted, the result demonstrates the utility of the network concept in describing the structure of metallic glasses.