ABSTRACT
Since 1960, amo rphous metallic alloys have been prepared by th rapid solid i-:ation (RS) techniques, whereby molten alloy is cooled to a temperature below te crystallization temperature , T."' of the amorphous phase at rates of 104 to 1011 . s - 1 [2]. Because of the high quenching rates required for amorphization, foils 1d ribbons prepared by RS techniques typically have a maximum thickness of 30 , 50 fl.m . Since 1983 , amorphous metallic alloys have been also produced by mtrolled chemical interdiffusion reactions at the interface be tween two pure met-.s [3]. The amorphous layer thickness that can be formed by this solid-state reaction ithin reasonable times is only 0.2 fl.m or less but the superposition of alternating tin foi ls of pure metals in principle allows for the synthesis of bulk amorphous Joys. In a related discovery, amorphous alloy powders have been produced by techanical a lloying (a form of high-energy ball milling) of a mixture of elemental )wders [4 ,5].
