Glass forming abilities of the Fe–Ta–(Zr, Ti) alloys studied by thermodynamic calculation and ion beam mixing

Abstract Thermodynamic calculation and ion beam mixing experiments were carried out for five sets of multilayered films with compositions of Fe 40 Ta 20 (Zr x Ti 1 − x ) 40 ( x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1). The results show that the experimental results agreed well with the prediction, i.e., unique amorphous phases could be formed in all the five sets of films, and by replacing Ti with appropriate amount of Zr, the glass forming ability of the alloy could be improved. Meanwhile, phase separation of amorphous phase was observed in the Fe 40 Ta 20 Zr 40 and other quaternary films. The possible mechanism of the amorphous phase formation and separation was discussed based on thermodynamic calculation and atomic collision theory.