The electropulsing process can be used to tailor the microstructure and deformability of metallic glasses (MGs). Here, we report the microstructural origin of enhanced electroplasticity of monatomic Ta MG nanowires. Under electromechanical loading, the Ta MG nanowire exhibits improved ductility and obvious necking behavior. By evaluating the dynamic structural evolution via in situ diffraction, it is found that the atomic mobility in flow units of Ta MG can be improved significantly under the stimulation of pulse current, mainly through the athermal electron-atom interaction, which results in the fast annihilation of flow units and, thereby, fast structural relaxation. These structural evolution processes can help to eliminate the formation of the obvious shear band. These findings provide insight into the origin of electroplasticity in amorphous materials, which is of scientific and technological significance for the design and processing of a variety of MGs.

中文翻译：

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单原子金属玻璃脉冲增强塑性的原位 TEM 研究

电脉冲工艺可用于定制金属玻璃（MG）的微观结构和变形能力。在这里，我们报告了单原子 Ta MG 纳米线增强电塑性的微观结构起源。在机电负载下，Ta MG 纳米线表现出改善的延展性和明显的颈缩行为。通过原位衍射评估动态结构演化，发现在脉冲电流的刺激下，Ta MG流动单元中的原子迁移率可以显着提高，主要是通过非热电子-原子相互作用，从而导致快速湮灭流动单位，从而快速结构松弛。这些结构演化过程有助于消除明显剪切带的形成。这些发现提供了对非晶材料电塑性起源的深入了解，这对于各种MG的设计和加工具有科学和技术意义。