Plastic Deformation-Assisted Synthesis of Metallic Glass Nanostructures

Abstract

In this paper, we report synthesis of various metallic glass nanostructures such as rods, wires and spheres via plastically deforming bulk metallic glasses in quasi-static compression at room temperature, and the formation mechanism and factors controlling their dimensions are discussed. The nanostructures are formed via viscous flow of softened layers within the shear band. The length of these nanostructures is dominated by the fracture toughness of metallic glass, which determines the temperature rise during plastic deformation and thus the viscosity of the softened layers.