The Vitrification and Determination of the Crystallization Time Scales of a Zr58.5Nb2.8Cu15.6Ni12.8Al10.3 Bulk Metallic Glass Forming Liquid

Zr58.5Nb2.8Cul5.6Nil2.8All0.3 is the first bulk glass forming liquid that does not contain beryllium to be vitrified by purely radiative cooling in the containerless electrostatic levitation process. The measured critical cooling rate is 1.75 K/s. The sluggish crystallization kinetics enable the determination of the time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram between the liquidus and the glass transition temperatures. At the nose of the TTT diagram, the shortest time to reach crystallization in an isothermal experiment is 32 seconds. In contrast to other bulk metallic glasses the scatter in the crystallization onset times are small at both high and low temperatures.