Structural relaxation during annealing and neutron or electron irradiation, in glassy Ti50Be40Zr10

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Abstract
We have studied the effects of thermal annealing and both electron and neutron irradiation on the state of short-range order in melt-spun Ti50Be40Zr10 (Metglas 2204), using electrical resistivity measurements. A reversible resistivity variation is observed during thermal cycling with no flux, akin to the one we evidenced recently in two binary all-metal amorphous alloys. It is similarly interpreted in terms of thermodynamical variations of the (metastable) equilibrium degree of chemical short-range order. On the other hand, the resistance of specimens exposed to a fast electron flux at 28 K is but little affected. However it is progressively decreased during post-irradiation isochronal anneals at subambient temperatures with a main, broad stage located between 120 K and 220 K. Interestingly the resistivity evolution related to structural relaxation which takes place above room temperature, in the unirradiated condition, is not markedly influenced by the irradiation. In contrast, irradiation with reactor neutrons at 300 K results in a strong resistivity increase, which is suggested to be reflection of chemical short-range ordering, presumably within the atomic displacement cascades.