ABSTRACTA metallic glass ribbon of Cu55Ti45 prepared by melt spinning was examined by x-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction, by small angle neutron diffraction (SANS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and by differential thermal analysis (DTA). In the liquid quenched condition large angle diffraction data (both x-ray and neutron) show the broad banded structure typical of the amorphous state. The SANS data, however, exhibit highly anisotropic patterns arising from the phase decomposition during solidification. Ribbons annealed below the glass transition temperature (Tg ) produced neutron diffraction patterns of materials with the same amorphous structure combined with a new short range order; and the SANS patterns retained the asymmetry of the as-quenched material. Ribbons annealed above the crystallization temperature (Tc) show both isotropic and anisotropic contributions to the SANS patterns. Formation of the equilibrium TiCu phase occurs directly from the metallic glass at Tc. The equilibrium Ti3Cu4 phase, however, forms from the TiCu phase at slightly higher temperatures.
