Severe deformation-induced microstructural heterogeneities in Cu64Zr36 metallic glass

Abstract Deformation-induced rejuvenation is a promising strategy to improve the macroscopic plasticity of metallic glasses (MGs). Here, molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the rejuvenated MGs’ atomic structure and mechanical behavior with high-pressure torsion (HPT) processing. The HPT induces the formation of soft and hard regions in MGs, which dramatically improves the microstructural heterogeneity. Potential energy, pair distribution function, short-range order, medium-range order, and vibrational behavior in HPT-deformed MGs are characterized. The microstructure of soft regions similar to the configuration slightly above the glass transition temperature can be adjusted by torsion angle, ultimately controlling the transformation of MGs from brittleness to ductility. These findings provide valuable guidelines for the design of MGs with enhanced deformability.