Electronic structures and heterogeneity of Zr-Cu-Ag metallic glasses

Abstract Photoemission and inverse-photoemission spectroscopy (PES and IPES) measurements were carried out on Zr 50 Cu 50 , Zr 45 Cu 45 Ag 10 , and Zr 40 Cu 40 Ag 20 metallic glasses to investigate the valence- and conduction-band electronic structures, respectively. From the incident photon energy, hν , dependence of the PES spectra, partial DOSs of s and d electrons for the constituent elements were estimated, and it was found that the DOS near E F is mainly composed of Zr 4 d electrons and the Cu 3 d electrons are localized in the valence band. Core-level PES measurements were also performed at the Zr 3 d , Cu 3 p , and Ag 3 d levels. The Zr 3 d core spectra indicate three chemical states in all of these glasses, suggesting a chemical heterogeneity. Energy shifts are observed in the Zr 3 d core levels, indicating the charge transfer in the Zr-Cu-Ag metallic glass system.