A high-resolution transmission electron microscopic study was made of the relaxation and crystallization of an amorphous alloy. An intermediate state, which corresponded to the crystallization of Ni3B and to the formation of amorphous Ni, was considered. This non-crystalline Ni was shown to consist of regions having only short-range order, together with regions of incipient crystallinity and a high density of defects. These resembled grain-boundary structures.

Electron-Microscope Study of the Formation and Further Crystallization of Non-Crystalline Nickel. C.Ballesteros, A.Zern, A.García-Escorial, A.Hernando, J.M.Rojo: Physical Review B, 1998, 58[1], 89-92