Factors influencing glass formation in rapidly solidified Si, Ge-Ni and Si, Ge-Ni-Nd alloys

In this letter we compare the glass-forming capabilities of binary Si, Ge-Ni and ternary Si, Ge-Ni-Nd alloys. The addition of Nd caused the formation of an amorphous single phase in the Ge-Ni-Nd alloy. The structure and crystallization behavior of the amorphous alloy were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffractometry. No amorphous phase formed in any of the Nd-free alloys or in the Si-Ni-Nd alloy. The higher glass-forming capability of the Ge-Ni-Nd alloy compared to Si-Ni-Nd cannot be explained on the basis of the widely used geometrical and chemical factors, viscosity, or diffusion data. The importance of the electronic structure characteristics is suggested to be a reason.