A differential scanning calorimetric study was made of amorphous-to-nanocrystalline transitions in various melt-spun, ball-milled, and cluster-synthesized alloys. By using a simple model, a correlation was found between the pre-exponential factors and activation enthalpies for crystallization. This was attributed to a similar correlation which existed for tracer diffusivities in the respective amorphous alloys. A shift of the present pre-exponential factors and activation enthalpies towards higher values (as compared to those for the amorphous state) indicated a change in diffusivity that was due to the amorphous-to-nanocrystalline transition.

B.Damson, R.Würschum: Journal of Applied Physics, 1996, 80[2], 747-51