The migration rates were determined by using a Rutherford α-particle back-scattering method. It was found that the resultant diffusion data obeyed Arrhenius relationships (table 148) which indicated that the activation energy was approximately equal to 2eV. The diffusivities of the devitrified alloy lay on the same Arrhenius plot as that for the amorphous material. Pre-annealing had no appreciable effect upon the diffusivity or activation energy. The rate of diffusion of the Au atoms was up to 3 orders of magnitude lower than the diffusion rate of a metalloid atom in the same glass, at a given temperature. For a given temperature, the diffusion rate decreased with increasing glass transition temperature. At a given fraction of the glass transition temperature, the diffusion rate increased with increasing transition temperature.

D.Akhtar, B.Cantor, R.W.Cahn: Acta Metallurgica, 1982, 30[8], 1571-7