Continuous chemical redistribution following amorphous-to-crystalline structural ordering in a Zr-Cu-Al bulk metallic glass

•Crystallization kinetics of Zr45.5Cu45.5Al9 bulk metallic glass was investigated.•Simultaneous DSC and SANS was applied to study in situ the crystallization process.•A three-stage structural evolution during crystallization was revealed.•Continuous chemical redistribution following structural ordering was observed.•A new feature, i.e., the transition region, was identified and discussed.