Synthesis of amorphous alloys and amorphous–crystalline composites in ternary Ni–Nb–Zr system by ion beam mixing

•Amorphous alloys and composites were synthesized in Ni–Nb–Zr by ion beam mixing (IBM).•The formation mechanism of amorphous alloys and composites was discussed.•The IBM result is quite compatible with the observations of rapid solidification.

Six sets of Ni–Nb–Zr multilayered films were designed and prepared with the overall compositions of Ni63Nb28Zr9, Ni48Nb13Zr39, Ni29Nb60Zr11, Ni79Nb12Zr9, Ni31Nb31Zr38, and Ni31Nb11Zr58, and an ion beam mixing experiment was then conducted using 180 keV xenon ions. It is found that the Ni–Nb–Zr system is a readily glass-forming system, and both fully amorphous alloys and amorphous–crystalline composites could be synthesized. A detailed discussion was presented for the formation mechanism of the amorphous alloys and amorphous–crystalline composites. In addition, thermodynamic calculation predicted the glass-forming ability of the system, which is in good agreement with the IBM results. The experimental results and thermodynamic calculation obtained in present study are also supported e.g. by the observations of rapid solidification.