A bulk metallic glass based on heavy rare earth gadolinium

The rare earth Gd based Gd60Al10Ni10Cu20 bulk metallic glass (BMG) has been fabricated by Cu-mold casting method. The BMG-forming alloy exhibits a glass transition, obvious multi-crystallization, near eutectic melting and paramagnetic property. However, the alloy does not have a high reduced glass transition temperature (Trg = 0.55) which is a common feature for other known BMGs. We also find that a series of alloys with identical composition of M60Cu20Ni10Al10 with different bases (M = Zr, La, Nd, Pr, or Ce) can be easily cast into bulk glass. The Gd-based BMGs could have potential applications as functional materials.