Preparation of «amorphous» Ni60Nb40 by mechanical alloying

‘‘Amorphous’’ Ni60Nb40 has been prepared by mechanical alloying of elemental nickel and niobium powders in a laboratory ball mill in controlled environments. X-ray diffraction was used to follow the progress of the mechanical alloying which eventually produced ‘‘amorphous’’ diffraction patterns similar to those for liquid quenched amorphous Ni60Nb40. Crystallization behavior was measured by differential scanning calorimetry for the mechanically alloyed and liquid quenched material. The differences that were observed in this behavior, and in the products of crystallization, may be attributed to impurities (especially oxygen) introduced during mechanical alloying.