Irradiation effect of swift heavy ion for Zr50Cu40Al10 bulk glassy alloy

Abstract It has been reported that heavy ion irradiation causes softening in some cases of Zr-based bulk metallic glass alloys. However, the fundamental mechanisms of such softening have not been clarified yet. In this study, Zr 50 Cu 40 Al 10 bulk glassy alloys were irradiated with heavy ions of 10 MeV I at room temperature. The maximum fluence was 3 × 10 14  ions/cm 2 . The positron annihilation measurements have performed before and after irradiation to investigate changes in free volume. We discuss the relationship between the energy loss and local open volume change after 10 MeV I irradiation compared with those obtained for 200 MeV Xe and 5 MeV Al. The energy loss analysis in ion irradiation for the positron lifetime has revealed that the decreasing trend of positron lifetime is well expressed as a function of total electronic energy deposition rather than total elastic energy deposition. It means that the positron lifetime change by the irradiation has a relationship with the inelastic collisions with electrons during heavy ion irradiation.