Study on the irradiation damage in Fe-based metallic glasses induced by Ne10+ ions

•High enery and high charged Ne10+ ions made the atoms of Fe80Si7B13 aggregation.•The uneven range of atoms in Fe80Si7B13 is larger than that by SRIM.•Potential energy of Ne10+ ions caused sputtering and then produced nano-defects.•Free volume is the essential reseaon for materials have good irradiation resistance. Due to the long-range disordered structure, metallic glass could be used as a candidate for radiation-resistant materials. The article showed the influence of Ne10+ ions irradiation on the microstructure, atomic arrangement and defects of Fe-based metallic glasses. Metallic glasses Fe80Si7B13 and Fe68Zr7B25 remained amorphous after irradiation at different fluence. However, the atomic arrangement of Fe80Si7B13 became uneven after irradiation, and a trend toward ordering appeared. The thickness of the uneven layer of atoms was greater than the calculated concentration distribution range of Ne10+ ions by SRIM. After irradiation, raised and pitted nano-structure defects appeared on the surface of Fe-based metallic glasses. The surface roughness of Fe80Si7B13 increased slightly, while the surface reflectivity decreased, and the number of vacancy-type defects in Fe80Si7B13 was slightly increased. These results provide a basic description for the irradiation damage of Fe-based metallic glass and give a evaluation of potential applications of the metallic glass.