Atomic diffusion in the supercooled liquid and glassy states of the Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 alloy.

The self-diffusivity of Be in the bulk metallic amorphous alloy Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 is investigated. Below the glass transition temperature the data suggest a single atomic jump diffusion behavior of Be. By taking into account the change in configurational entropy due to the glass transition, we explain the mechanism for diffusion of Be in the supercooled liquid state (i.e., above the glass transition) of Zr41.2Ti13.8Ni10Cu12.5Be22.5 by single atomic jumps in a slowly changing configuration of neighboring atoms.