The room-temperature creep resistance of the Co 56 Ta 9 B 35 metallic glass was determined by a nanoindentation technique. Results showed that the creep curves were described by a generalized Kelvin model. The low creep strain-rate sensitivity parameter and creep rate derived from the displacement-holding time curves demonstrated the high creep resistance of the Co 56 Ta 9 B 35 metallic glass. The deformation mechanism causing the nanoindentation creep was discussed based on the "shear transformation zone" concept, which gave an explanation for the creep behavior in metallic glasses. A number of Co-based multicomponent metallic glass (MG) systems have been reported, including Co-Fe-(Ta,Mo)-(B,Si) [1-4], (Co-Fe)-(Nb,Zr)-(B,Si) [5-9], (Co,Fe,Ni)-(Zr,Hf,Nb,Ta,Mo,W)-B [10] and Co-Fe-B-Si [11]. The family of Co-based MGs has been widely studied in recent decades. A wide range of material properties have been investigated, including glassforming ability [7-9], thermal stability, strength [1][2][3]8] and magnetic properties [2,7,[9][10][11]. For instance, the Co 43 Fe 20 Ta 5.5 B 31.5 MG has been reported to be the strongest MG [2] with promising magnetic applications [1,2,4,[12][13][14]. The tensile strengths of Co-Si-B and Co-Ta-Si-B alloys have been reported to range from 3580 to 4000 MPa, respectively. When Fe is removed from the Co-Fe-Ta-B ribbon and wire MGs [12], the fracture strength of Co-based MGs can even increase to above 6000 MPa.Co 65 À x Ta x B 35 (at.%, x = 5-11) [12,15] systems have rapidly become of broad interest, having set the record for the highest strength among the known bulk glassy alloys, with an elastic modulus and hardness of 280 and 17.8 GPa, respectively. Our recent research [15,16] on the compressibility of CoTaB MGs under high pressure by using synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that the charge density and bonding character demonstrate that the covalent character of Co-B and B-B bonds is the reason for the high elastic modulus and hardness in CoTaB MGs [15].Very recently, a plasticity ternary Co 61 Nb 8 B 31 bulk MG was fabricated with a plasticity of 5% and a yield strength of 5200 MPa [17]. However, the room-temperature creep-resistance behavior of Co-based MGs has not been reported. The plastic deformation of MGs and the related mechanism are considered to be among the most important aspects of their engineering application. Thus, studying the creep-resistance behavior of materials can enable the selection of appropriate materials in different environments. Given the size limitation of MGs, many of their mechanical properties cannot be studied by traditional methods. A new nanoindentation technique has recently paved a new path for research on the plastic deformation of glassy alloys [18]. Therefore, in this work, we use Co 56 Ta 9 B 35 as a model MG to study the creep-resistance behavior at room temperature using the nanoindentation technique.The amorphous ribbon was prepared by the meltspinning technique in an argon atmosphere. The glassy structure of the alloys ...
