Notch sensitivity in nanoscale metallic glass specimens: Insights from continuum simulations

Recent experiments have shown that nano-sized metallic glass (MG) specimens subjected to tensile loading exhibit increased ductility and work hardening. Failure occurs by necking as opposed to shear banding which is seen in bulk samples. Also, the necking is generally observed at shallow notches present on the specimen surface. In this work, continuum finite element analysis of tensile loading of nano-sized notched MG specimens is conducted using a thermodynamically consistent non-local plasticity model to clearly understand the deformation behavior from a mechanics perspective. It is found that plastic zone size in front of the notch attains a saturation level at the stage when a dominant shear band forms extending across the specimen. This size scales with an intrinsic material length associated with the interaction stress between flow defects. A transition in deformation behavior from quasi-brittle to ductile becomes possible when this critical plastic zone size is larger than the uncracked ligament length. These observations corroborate with atomistic simulations and experimental results. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the critical thickness for non-localized to localized plastic flow transition in metallic glasses: A molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate the specimen thickness-dependent tensile behavior of a series of Cu(x)Z(100-x) (x = 20, 40, 50, 64 and 80 at%) metallic glass (MG) films, with a particular focus on the critical thickness, tc, below which non-localized plastic flow takes place. The simulation results reveal that while the transition occurs in all the alloys examined, t(c) is sensitive to the composition. We rationalize t(c) by postulating that the strain energy stored in the sample at the onset of plastic deformation has to be sufficient for the formation of shear bands. The composition-dependence of t(c) was found to correlate with the average activation energy of the atomic level plastic deformation events. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spin-glass state in nanoparticulate (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3)(1-x) (BaTiO3)(x) solid solutions: Experimental and density-functional studies

We report the transition from robust ferromagnetism to a spin- glass state in nanoparticulate La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 through solid solution with BaTiO3. The field- and temperature-dependent magnetization and the frequency-dependent ac magnetic susceptibility measurements strongly indicate the existence of a spin- glass state in the system, which is further confirmed from memory effect measurements. The breaking of long-range ordering into short-range magnetic domains is further investigated using density-functional calculations. We show that Ti ions remain magnetically inactive due to insufficient electron leakage from La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 to the otherwise unoccupied Ti-d states. This results in the absence of a Mn-Ti-Mn spin exchange interaction and hence the breaking of the long-range ordering. Total-energy calculations suggest that the segregation of nonmagnetic Ti ions leads to the formation of short-range ferromagnetic Mn domains.

Magnetic properties and magnetic domain structure of bulk glass forming Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 alloy

The transition from hard to soft magnetic behaviour with increasing quenching rate is shown for Nd60WAl10Fe20Co10 melt-spun ribbons with different thickness. Microstructure and magnetic domain structure of ribbons were studied by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Particle sizes < 5 nm decreasing gradually with increasing quenching rate were deduced from topographic images which differ from large-scale magnetic domains with a periodicity of about 350 nm in all ribbons irrespective the coercivity. This indicates that the magnetic properties of the alloy are governed by interaction of small magnetic particles. It is concluded that the presence of short-range-ordered structures with a local ordering similar to the Al metastable Nd-Fe binary phase is responsible for the hard magnetic properties in samples subjected to relatively low quenching rate.

Domain structure of a Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 bulk metallic glass

Magnetic domain structure of Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) has been studied by using magnetic-force microscopy. In the magnetic-force images it is shown that the exchange-interaction-type magnetic domains with a period of about 360 nm do exist in the BMG, which is believed to be associated with the appearance of hard-magnetic properties in this system. The existence of the large-scale domains demonstrates that the magnetic moments of a great deal of short-scale ordered atomic clusters in the BMG have been aligned by exchange coupling. Annealing at 715 K leads to partial crystallization of the BMG. However, the exchange coupling is stronger in the annealed sample, which is considered to arise from the increase of transition-metal concentration in the amorphous phase due to the precipitation of Nd crystalline phase.

Phase Evolution and its Effect on Magnetic Properties of Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 Bulk Metallic Glass

The thermal stability of nanocrystalline clusters, the phase evolution, and their effects on magnetic Propertieswere studied for as-cast Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 alloy using differential scanning calorimetry curves, x-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transition electron microscopy. Thermomagnetic curves and hysteresis loops of the bulk metallic glass were measured during the annealing process. The high thermostability of the hardmagnetic properties of the samples observed is attributed to the stability of the nanocrystalline clusters upon annealing, while the slight enhancement in the magnetization is due to the precipitation of some Nd-rich metastable phases. The mechanism of thermostability of the nanocrystalline clusters and the formation of the metastable phases are discussed.

Residual Stress And Deformation Analysis Of Anodic Bonded Multi-Layer Of Glass And Aluminum

The bonding of glass wafer to aluminum foils in multi-layer assemblies was made by the common anodic bonding process. The bonding was performed at temperatures in the range 350-450 degrees C and with an applied voltage in the range 400-700 V under a pressure of 0.05 MPa. Residual stress and deformation in samples of two-layer (aluminum/glass) and three-layer (glass/aluminum/glass) were analyzed by nonlinear finite element simulation software MARC. The stress and strain varying with cooling time were obtained. The analyzed results show that deformation of the three-layer sample is significantly smaller than that of the two-layer sample, because of the symmetric structure of the three-layer sample. This has an important advantage in MEMS fabrication. The maximum equivalent stresses locate in the transition layer in both samples, which will become weakness in bonded sample.

Dynamic Fracture Instability Of Tough Bulk Metallic Glass

We report the observations of a clear fractographic evolution from vein pattern, dimple structure, and then to periodic corrugation structure, followed by microbranching pattern, along the crack propagation direction in the dynamic fracture of a tough Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 (Vit.1) bulk metallic glass (BMGs) under high-velocity plate impact. A model based on fracture surface energy dissipation and void growth is proposed to characterize this fracture pattern transition. We find that once the dynamic crack propagation velocity reaches a critical fraction of Rayleigh wave speed, the crack instability occurs; hence, crack microbranching goes ahead. Furthermore, the correlation between the critical velocity of amorphous materials and their intrinsic strength such as Young's modulus is uncovered. The results may shed new insight into dynamic fracture instability for BMGs. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Optical properties of transparent alkali gallium silicate glass-ceramics containing Ni2+-doped beta-Ga2O3 nanocrystals

Broadband near-infrared (IR) luminescence in transparent alkali gallium silicate glass-ceramics containing N2+-doped beta-Ga2O3 nanocrystals was observed. This broadband emission could be attributed to the T-3(2g) (F-3) -> (3)A(2g) (F-3) transition of octahedral Ni2+ ions in glass-ceramics. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the near-IR luminescence and fluorescent lifetime of the glass-ceramic doped with 0.10 mol% NiO were 260 nm and similar to 1220 mu s, respectively. It is expected that transparent Ni2+-doped beta-Ga2O3 glass-ceramics with this broad near-IR emission and long fluorescent lifetime have potential applications as super-broadband optical amplification media.

Broadband infrared luminescence from transparent glass-ceramics containing Ni2+-doped beta-Ga2O3 nanocrystals

Transparent Ni2+-doped beta-Ga2O3 glass-ceramics were synthesized. The nanocrystal phase in the glass-ceramics was identified to be beta-Ga2O3 and its size was about 3.6 nm. It was confirmed from the absorption spectra that the ligand environment of Ni2+ ions changed from the trigonal bi-pyramid fivefold sites in the as-cast glass to the octahedral sites in the glass-ceramics. The broadband infrared emission centering at 1270 nm with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of more than 250 nm was observed. The fluorescence lifetime was about 1.1 mu s at room temperature. The observed infrared emission could be attributed to the T-3 (2g) (F-3) -> (3)A (2g) (F-3) transition of octahedral Ni2+ ions. It is suggested that the Ni2+-doped transparent beta-Ga2O3 glass-ceramics with broad bandwidth and long lifetime have a potential as a broadband amplification medium.

Spectroscopic, and thermal studies of some new binuclear transition metal(II) complexes with hydrazone ligands containing acetoacetanilide and isoxazole

A new chelating ligand, 2-(2-(5-tert-butylisoxazol-3-yl)hydrazono)-N-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-3-oxobutanamide (HL), and its four binuclear transition metal complexes, M-2(L)(2) (mu-OCH3)(2) [M = Ni(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Zn(II)], were synthesized using the procedure of diazotization, coupling and metallization. Their structures were postulated based on elemental analysis, H-1 NMR, MALDI-MS, FT-IR spectra and UV-vis electronic absorption spectra. Smooth films of these complexes on K9 glass substrates were prepared using the spin-coating method and their absorption properties were evaluated. The thermal properties of the metal(II) complexes were investigated by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC. Different thermodynamic and kinetic parameters namely activation energy (E

Effect of Fe impurity on the optical loss of Nd-doped phosphate laser glass

The optical loss coefficient at 1053-nm wavelength, influenced by Fe ions in N31-type Nd-doped phosphate laser glass, was determined precisely and analyzed in detail. It is found that the optical loss coefficient per unit of Fe concentration (cm^(-1)/ppmw) increases with Fe concentration in the range of 0---300 ppmw, but it approaches a constant as the Fe concentration is larger than 300 ppmw. Such a concentration effect is due to a shift in the redox equilibrium between Fe3+ and Fe2+ ions in the glass. The effect of oxygen pressure, temperature, and variable valence states of other metal ions in glass samples on the optical loss is also discussed.

Microstructure of the crystals generated in borate glass irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

In this study, we examined the microstructure of crystals generated in borate glass by femtosecond laser irradiation (FSLI). The distribution of the high-temperature and low-temperature phases of barium metaborate crystals produced in the borate glass is analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. We then propose the possible mechanism for the generation of crystals in glass by FSLI.

Spectroscopic properties and Judd-Ofelt theory analysis of Dy3+ doped oxyfluoride silicate glass

Dy3+ doped oxyfluoride silicate glass was prepared and its optical absorption, 1.3 mu m emission, and upconversion luminescence properties were studied. Furthermore, the Judd-Ofelt [Phys. Rev. 127, 750 (1962); J. Chem. Phys. 37, 511 (1962)] intensity parameters, oscillator strengths, spontaneous transition probability, fluorescence branching ratio and radiative lifetime were calculated by Judd-Ofelt theory, while stimulated emission cross section of H-6(9/2)+F-6(11/2)-> H-6(15/2) transition was calculated by McCumber theory [Phys. Rev. A. 134, 299 (1964)]. According to the obtained Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Omega(2)=2.69x10(-20) cm(2), Omega(4)=1.64x10(-20) cm(2), and Omega(6)=1.64x10(-20) cm(2), the radiative lifetime was calculated to be 810 mu s for 1.3 mu m emission, whose full width at half maximum and sigma(e) were 115 nm and 2.21x10(-20)cm(2), respectively. In addition, near infrared to visible upconversion luminescence was observed and evaluated. The results suggest that Dy3+ doped oxyfluoride silicate glass can be used as potential host material for developing broadband optical amplifiers and laser applications.

Spectroscopic properties of fluorophosphate glass with high Er(3+)supercript stop concentration

Fluorophosphate glass with 4 mol.% ErF3 content was prepared. The different scanning calorimetry was conducted. Raman spectrum, infrared transmission spectrum, absorption spectrum were measured. Fluorescence spectrum and lifetime of emission around 1.53 mu m were measured under 970 nm laser diode excitation. The metaphosphate content in the composition is limited, but the maximum phonon energy of glass amounts to 1290 cm- 1, and is comparatively high. The full width at half maximum is about 56 nm, and is wider than for most of the materials investigated. The measured lifetime of I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2) transition, contributed by the high phonon energy, inefficient interaction of Er3+ ions, and low water content, amounts to no less than 7.36 ms though the Er3+ concentration is high. This work might provide useful information for the development of compact optical devices.