Annealing-dependent elastic microstructure in a Zr-based metallic glass

In this letter, we demonstrate the robust presence of an elastic microstructure in a Zr-based metallic glass (MG) with a characteristic length-scale of the order of 100 nm. This length scale increases systematically towards the MG surface in differently sized casts, whereas thermal relaxation homogenizes both the internal length-scale gradient and the magnitude of the elastic fluctuations. Strongest changes during relaxation arise in the stiffest parts of the elastic microstructure. These findings indicate that the elastic microstructure emerges due to cooling constraints and may therefore be a microstructural manifestation of the internal residual stresses that arise during MG-solidification.