Substantially enhanced homogeneous plastic flow in hierarchically nanodomained amorphous alloys.

Abstract in brief

• The study introduces a new way to improve the plastic flow of metallic glasses by creating nanoscale chemical heterogeneity, which helps prevent failure from shear bands, making the material more stable under stress.
• This is achieved by designing a specific alloy (TiZrNbSiXXMgZnCaYY) with hierarchically arranged nanodomains that undergo highly uniform plastic deformation and strain hardening during compression, outperforming other similar materials.
• During plastic deformation, atomic intermixing between the nanodomains occurs dynamically, which helps maintain interface integrity and enhances the material's strength and ductility, pointing to new possibilities for stronger, more flexible amorphous alloys.]