Observations on the ageing of the metallic glass Fe80B20

The commercial binary metallic glass, Fe₈₀B₂₀, was examined using transmission electron microscopy after a variety of ageing treatments. While the material was found to be susceptible to beam-induced oxidation, some tendency to crystallization at temperatures as low as 523 K was observed. Morphologically this was different from the essentially eutectic crystallization behaviour previously observed at 573 K and above.