Electronegativity of the constituent rare-earth metals as a factor stabilizing the supercooled liquid region in Al-based metallic glasses

The letter describes influence of the electronegativity of the constituent rare-earth metals on the supercooled liquid region in the Al–(Gd, Dy or Er)–Ni–Co metallic glasses. The samples were studied by x-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry. Calorimetry data for the La and Sm—bearing glasses studied earlier were also taken in consideration for comparison. It is found that supercooled liquid range in the Al85RE8Ni5Co2 alloys strongly depends upon electronegativity of the RE metal.