Thermodynamic and atomistic modeling of irradiation-induced amorphization in nanosized metal-metal multilayers

A brief summary is firstly presented concerning up-to-date experimental studies of the formation of amorphous alloys (metallic glasses) in binary metal systems by ion beam mixing of nanosized metal-metal multilayers. Secondly, under the framework of Miedema's theory, thermodynamic modeling of crystal-to-amorphous transition is described with special consideration of the effect of the excess interfacial free energy on the alloy phase formation. Thirdly, in some representative systems, glass-forming ranges are calculated directly from their realistic interatomic potentials by determining the critical solid solubilities of the systems by molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, a comparison between irradiation and thermally induced amorphization in the metal-metal multilayers is also discussed.