Ductile Fe-Nb-B bulk metallic glass with ultrahigh strength

The authors report a simple Fe-based Fe₇₁ Nb₆ B ₂₃ ternary bulk metallic glass with a record high strength of 4.85 GPa as well as an appreciable compressive plastic strain of 1.6%. This finding is associated with the unique attribute of the alloying element Nb, which favors the formation of a networklike structure and holds high Poisson's ratio. A fracture feature with a combination of vein pattern and nanoscale corrugations under compression is clearly characterized in this glass. The fractographic observations correlate well with the observed improvements in plasticity.