Tailoring mechanical heterogeneity,nanoscale creep deformation and optical properties of nanostructured Zr-based metallic glass

Metallic glasses are spatially heterogeneous at the nanometer scale.However,the effects of external excitation on their structural and mechanical heterogeneity and the correlation to their properties are still unresolved.Nanoindentation,atomic force microscopy(AFM) and high-resolution transmis sion elec tron micro scopy(HRTEM) were carried out to explore the effects of cryogenic thermal cycling(CTC) on mechanical/structural heterogeneity,nano sc ale creep deformation and optical properties of nano structured metallic glass thin films(MGTFs).The results indicate that CTC treatment alters the distribution fluctuations of hardness/modulus and energy dissipation and results in an increase-then-decrease variation in mechanical heterogeneity.By applying Maxwell-Voigt model,it can be shown that CTC treatment results in a remarkable activation of more defects with longer relaxation time in soft regions but has only a slight effect on defects in hard regions.In addition,CTC treatment increases the transition time from primary-state stage to steady-state stage during creep deformation.The enhanced optical reflectivity of the MGTFs after 15 thermal cycles can be attributed to increased aggregation of Cu and Ni elements.The results of this study shed new light on understanding mechanical/structural heterogeneity and its influence on nanoscale creep deformation and optical characteristics of nanostructured MGTFs,and facilitate the design of high-performance nanostructured MGTFs.