| Abstract Scope |
Minor alloying is of fundamental as well as technological interest and refers to the addition of small concentrations of alloying elements to tune the properties of a given host material. In the context of metallic glasses, minor alloying was shown to affect the glass forming ability and properties including the mechanical performance. However, in view of the richness of local structural features in metallic glasses, the impact of small compositional variations is striking and calls for an analysis of the structural changes and the structure-property correlations. As a case example, a Pd-based bulk metallic glass was manipulated by minor additions of either Fe or Co. The alloying effects were extreme, showing either exceptional ductility upon Co addition or immediate catastrophic failure upon Fe addition. The underlying structural and dynamic modifications correlated to the minor alloying are discussed with respect to the local structural diversity that is affected by minor alloying. |