Solid-state amorphizing transformations: thermodynamics and kinetics

Amorphous metallic alloys are thermodynamically metastable with respect to one or more crystalline phases. Forming an amorphous alloy by an isothermal solid-state transformation requires starting from a state of free energy higher than that of the amorphous phase and choosing a reaction path that prevents the system from reaching the crystalline state of lowest free energy. Much has been learned about solid-state amorphizing transformations from interdiffusion experiments in transition-metal thin-film multilayers. We review some of these experiments and discuss recent advances in our understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the phenomenon.