Changes in electric conductivity of Ni-Zr amorphous alloy at initial stage of crystallization

Resistance maximum at the beginning of crystallization is investigated taking Ni0.34-Zr0.66 alloy as an example. It is detected that during amorphous alloy crystallization specific resistance drop is preceded by its growth by 4-5%. Possible reasons for such growth conditioned by the occurrence of spatial inhomogeneities including boundaries between amorphous and crystalline areas and large-scale concentration fluctuations in amorphous matrix accompanying the crystallization initiation are discussed. Experimental data on metastable crystalline phase parameters (elementary cell constants, space group, chemical composition) and on the superconducting transition character diffuse (transition in samples, in which crystallization has occurred only in a minor part of the volume), obtained in the work, are used in the discussion