Self-propagating waves of crystallization in metallic glasses

Self-propagating thermal waves of the amorphous-crystalline transformation in Fe-based metallic glasses, obtained by melt spinning, were observed using a high-speed infrared camera and reported here. Some experimental results are also reported concerning oscillating waves in the CuTi glassy foils. The thermal characteristics and wave propagating velocities, as well as the microstructure and atomic structure transformations, were studied. A comparison of the results with exothermic reaction waves and explosive crystallization shows that the self-propagating waves in metallic glasses are slower and less violent than classical explosive crystallization in deposited films; thus, we suggest naming this phenomenon ``soft explosive crystallization.'' The experimental data were confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation of the crystallization phenomenon. Published by AIP Publishing.