Some mechanisms of creep, especially those involving dislocations for many crystalline materials, can be verified by direct microstructural examination. However, metallic glass thin films (MGTFs) are disordered materials lacking the long-range order of crystals. Even today, the creep mechanisms for amorphous alloys are far from being fully understood. The physical factors governing localization and instability during creep deformation are still elusive. In this work, Ni₆₀Nb₄₀ alloys with high kinetic stability were prepared by magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures to obtain MGTFs with different internal states. We report a close correlation between the internal states and the creep resistance of the MGTFs and reveal that altering the substrate temperature during magnetron sputtering can induce changes in the surface morphologies, plastic deformation resistance, and creep resistance of Ni₆₀Nb₄₀ MGTFs. The creep deformation mechanism is interpreted based on the shear transformation zone (STZ) model of amorphous alloys, and our results may have implications for understanding the role of STZs during creep deformation of MGTFs.

中文翻译：

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金属玻璃薄膜内部状态与抗蠕变性的相关性

某些蠕变机制，特别是涉及许多晶体材料的位错的蠕变机制，可以通过直接的微观结构检查来验证。但是，金属玻璃薄膜（MGTF）是缺乏晶体长程有序的无序材料。即使在今天，对于非晶态合金的蠕变机理仍未完全了解。控制蠕变变形过程中的局部性和不稳定性的物理因素仍然难以捉摸。在这项工作中，镍₆₀铌₄₀通过在不同基板温度下进行磁控溅射制备具有高动力学稳定性的合金，以获得具有不同内部状态的MGTF。我们报道了内部状态与MGTFs的抗蠕变性之间的密切相关性，并揭示了在磁控溅射过程中改变衬底温度会引起Ni ₆₀ Nb ₄₀ MGTF的表面形态，塑性变形抗性和抗蠕变性的变化。基于非晶合金的剪切转变区（STZ）模型解释了蠕变变形机理，我们的结果可能对理解STZ在MGTF蠕变变形中的作用具有启示意义。