Bond-orientational anisotropy in metallic glasses observed by x-ray diffraction

Abstract
The structural anisotropy in metallic glasses induced by mechanical creep was observed by x-ray diffraction, using energy-dispersive x-ray diffractometry. The creep-induced anisotropy is the origin of the anelasticity in metallic glasses. The structural anisotropy was analyzed in terms of the anisotropic structure factor and anisotropic pair distribution function. The results show that the observed anisotropy is due to the atomic-bond-orientational anisotropy.