The enthalpy difference between glassy and liquid Au-Si alloys

The recrystallisation of laser-quenched glassy thin films with compositions ranging from 26 to 81.4 at.% Au was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry. Measured heats of crystallization were combined with literature data to obtain the enthalpy difference between the liquid and glassy phases as a function of composition. This was found to vary rather strongly across the phase diagram. Two different metastable crystalline phases were observed to precipitate from the amorphous films, depending on the composition.