Amorphous metal thin films lack the grain boundaries and dislocations present in
crystalline metal films. As a result, amorphous metal films can be more mechanically robust, atomically smooth, and more resistant to chemical attack than crystalline metals. However, amorphous metals are meta-stable and subject to crystallization upon heating, thus limiting...
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are relatively new amorphous materials that have received much attention in recent years. Rapid cooling methods from the liquid state provides the possibility to bypass crystallization during solidification. Due to the lack of crystal defects such as grain boundaries and dislocations, BMGs can have some special...
Amorphous multicomponent metals have promising applications in novel electronic devices because of their atomically smooth surface morphology and lack of grain boundaries. It is important to understand the thermal transport properties of amorphous metals and an accurate measurement of their thermal conductivity will be essential for further improvement of device...
The research presented herein represents an effort to combine the ultra-smooth surface of an amorphous metal thin film (AMTF) with a solution-processed dielectric synthesized via prompt inorganic condensation (PIC). Analysis of dielectric film quality is carried out via electrical measurements of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes. Anneals at 500 and 700 °C...
The motivation for undertaking this research was to increase the understanding of processing colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals and thin films metallic glasses to enable their wider application in future devices. This research covered two unique materials, lead selenide (PbSe) nanocrystals and thin film metallic glass alloy of zirconium copper aluminum nickel...
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) offer a great deal of potential through their near-theoretical strength, potentially high toughness and unique forming and molding traits. However, there are still a number of outstanding issues that bar their widespread use. This thesis describes the investigation of three research questions each designed to further...
The objective of this thesis is to provide an initial demonstration of two-terminal and three-terminal electronic devices employing amorphous multi-component metallic film
(AMMF) electrodes. Such a demonstration is successfully achieved in the fabrication of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode and hot electron transistor (HETs) structures employing ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes. The ultra-smooth surface...
The effect of ambient environment on the fatigue behavior of two Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) is examined in the present study. The first metallic glass, Zr₄₄Ti₁₁Ni₁₀Cu₁₀Be₂₅, was tested to establish the presence of an environmental effect in the fatigue growth curve measured in ambient air. Fatigue growth curves produced...
The influence of shear rate and temperature on the viscosity and fragility of the Zr₄₁.₂Ti₁₃.₈Cu₁₂.₅Ni₁₀.₀Be₂₂.₅ (Vit1) metallic glass forming liquid is measured in the liquid and undercooled liquid state between 907 and 1300 K. The results show a complex rheological behavior of Vit1. The viscosity of Vit1 is about three...
Deformation of metallic glasses requires the existence of free volume to allow atomic movement under mechanical loading. Accordingly, the present research seeks to understand how free volume variations in alloys of identical compositions affect the fatigue and fracture behavior. By annealing below the glass transition temperature, the free volume of...