Prominent <i>β</i>-relaxations in yttrium based metallic glasses

Abstract

Most metallic glasses (MGs) exhibit weak slow β-relaxation. We report the prominent β-relaxation in YNiAl metallic glass with a wide composition range. Compared with other MGs, the MGs show a pronounced β-relaxation peak and high β-relaxation peak temperature, and the β-relaxation behavior varies significantly with the changes of the constituent elements, which is attributed to the fluctuations of chemical interactions between the components. We demonstrate the correlation between the β-relaxation and the activation of flow units for mechanical behaviors of the MG and show that the MG is model system for studying some controversial issues in glasses.