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Crystallization kinetics and microstructural evolution of metallic glasses

Metallic glasses are continuously prone to structural changes due to their metastable character. These structural modifications, such as segregation or crystallization, can be used to produce nanocomposite or nanocrystalline functional materials or they can represent a deterioration of the material properties. In either case, a fundamental understanding of the process kinetics and chemical/structural evolution is essential.

We study the crystallization kinetics, induced by thermal annealing, using in-situ methods such as transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM), synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Complementary to these experiments, post annealing studies are carried out to monitor the chemical evolution by near-atomic atom probe tomography (see picture).

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