The origin of plasticity in bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) is highly elusive due to their complicated amorphous atomic structures. Nonetheless, there is a general consensus that the homogeneous regime of deformation on the deformation map of BMGs is constrained by high temperature and low strain rate. Here we report an expanded homogeneous regime in a Zr₅₅Cu₃₀Al₁₀Ni₅ BMG, which is achieved by applying a pulsed electric current to the BMG specimen subjected to external loading. The BMG specimen exhibits homogeneous elongation and necking, rather than shear banding as it should without pulsed current. The results indicate that the pulsed current produces an additional effective “temperature increment” ∼0.15T_g (T_g, the glass transition temperature) apart from the Joule heating effect. This expanded homogeneous regime is attributed primarily to electromigration-induced dynamic rejuvenation which promotes homogeneously distributed deformation by enlarging the shear transformation zones. These findings could benefit understandings of plasticity in glassy materials.

块状金属玻璃（BMG）的可塑性起源因其复杂的非晶原子结构而难以捉摸。但是，人们普遍认为，BMGs变形图上的均匀变形状态受高温和低应变速率的约束。在这里，我们报告了Zr ₅₅ Cu ₃₀ Al ₁₀ Ni ₅ BMG中扩展的均匀态，这是通过向承受外部载荷的BMG样品施加脉冲电流来实现的。BMG试样表现出均匀的伸长和颈缩，而不是没有脉冲电流时应有的剪切带。结果表明，脉冲电流产生一个附加的有效“温度增量” 〜 0.15除了焦耳热效应之外，T _g（T _g，玻璃化转变温度）。这种扩展的均质状态主要归因于电迁移引起的动态回春，该回春通过扩大剪切转变区来促进均匀分布的变形。这些发现可能有助于理解玻璃材料的可塑性。