Hydrogen induced plasticity has been found in metallic glasses; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we studied a Cu-Zr metallic glass charged in a hydrogen atmosphere inside an environmental transmission electron microscope. Compression tests of hydrogen charged nanopillars show more controllable deformation compared to uncharged ones. A variable resolution fluctuation electron microscopy study of the hydrogen charged samples reveals an increase in the correlation length of the medium-range order. Our results provide experimental evidence for hydrogen-induced heterogeneity and support the idea that increasing the degree of heterogeneity leads to multiple local shear events and suppresses catastrophic shear banding.

Impact statement

Direct evidence of an increase in the spatial correlation length of the medium-range order is found during hydrogen charging of a Cu-Zr metallic glass and leads to enhanced plastic deformation.

在金属玻璃中发现了氢诱导的可塑性。但是，其潜在机制仍不清楚。在此，我们研究了在环境透射电子显微镜内在氢气气氛中充入的Cu-Zr金属玻璃。与不带电的纳米柱相比，带氢的纳米柱的压缩测试显示出更可控的变形。充氢样品的可变分辨率波动电子显微镜研究表明，中程级的相关长度增加了。我们的结果为氢诱导的异质性提供了实验证据，并支持增加异质性程度会导致多个局部剪切事件并抑制灾难性剪切带的观点。

影响陈述

在Cu-Zr金属玻璃的氢填充过程中，直接发现中程空间相关长度增加的直接证据，导致塑性变形增强。