EXAFS studies of intermediate crystallisation steps of amorphous Ni-Zr alloys

Metallic Ni-Zr glasses show characteristic exothermic processes during crystallisation as observed with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In the glassy alloy Ni$_{36.5}$Zr$_{63.5}$, after the first of the two exothermic reactions leading to complete crystallisation an intermediate amorphous stage is found. The X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of such an alloy are compared to those for the as-cast alloy and to those for an intermediate crystallisation step, an alloy with the nominal composition NiZr$_2$