Tracer Diffusion Mechanism in Amorphous Solids

Abstract

Tracer diffusion in amorphous solid is studied by mean of n B -bubble statistic. The n B -bubble is defined as a group of atoms around a spherical void and large bubble that represents a structural defect which could be eliminated under thermal annealing. It was found that amorphous alloys such as Co x B 100−x (x = 90, 81.5 and 70) and Fe 80 P 20 suffer from a large number of vacancy bubbles which function like diffusion vehicle. The concentration of vacancy bubble weakly depends on temperature, but essentially on the relaxation degree of considered sample. The diffusion coefficient estimated for proposed mechanism via vacancy bubbles is in a reasonable agreement with experiment for actual amorphous alloys. The relaxation effect for tracer diffusion in amorphous alloys is interpreted by the elimination of vacancy bubbles under thermal annealing.