Abstract
The effect of heat treatment on various physical properties in Zr~80~Ni~20~ metallic glass has been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry and electrical resistivity measurements. Experimental values for the crystallisation temperature and activation energy of the crystallisation processes were derived by studying these processes at different heating rates. The electrical resistivity of the annealed samples up to a temperature slightly above the first crystallization exotherm decreases with decreasing heating rates and increasing annealing temperatures. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of the samples has been interpreted in terms of the weak localization of electrons and contribution by electron–phonon scattering. The contribution by electron–phonon scattering increases with increasing the fraction of crystalline phases in the glass matrix. The superconducting transition temperature, T~c~, of the Zr~80~Ni~20~ metallic glass annealed at heating rates of 60 K/min and 10 K/min up to annealing temperatures below its second crystallisation exotherm decreases with decreasing heating rates and increasing annealing temperatures. The homogeneity of the annealed Zr~80~Ni~20~ metallic glass is discussed by using the superconducting transition width as a criterion. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)