The impact of nanoscale compositional variation on the properties of amorphous alloys.

The atomic distribution in amorphous FeZr alloys is found to be close to random, nevertheless, the composition can not be viewed as being homogenous at the nm-scale. The spatial variation of the local composition is identified as the root of the unusual magnetic properties in amorphous $$\hbox {Fe}_{1-x}\hbox {Zr}_{x}$$ alloys. The findings are discussed and generalised with respect to the physical properties of amorphous and crystalline materials.