Mechanical response of metallic glass thin films with different components during nanoindentation and nanoscratch

In this paper, the nanoscale mechanical response of metallic glass thin films with different components is studied via the nanoindentation and nanoscratch tests. The serrated flow behaviors of Cu50Zr50, Ni62Nb38, Fe70Nb10B20, and Co56Ta35B9 metallic glass thin films with different fragilities under various nanoindentation loading rates were systematically studied. The nanoindentation creep behaviors of metallic glass films under different loading conditions were analyzed; the volume of the shear transition zone in each material was calculated. The wear resistance of metallic glass thin films with different components was studied via the nanoscratch experiment. The results show that the serrated mode of a metallic glass film depends on the change in the loading rate. The volume of the internal shear transition zone in a metallic glass film depends on the fragility and the joint effect of the substrate temperature and loading rate. Generally, the larger the degree of material heterogeneity, the more easily the volume of the shear transition zone is affected by the loading rate. Combined with the nanoscratch experiment, the wear resistance of metallic glass film was primarily dependent on its hardness.