Positive and negative temperature dependence in the resistivity of crystallized Zr-Fe-Ni metallic glasses

Ni_0.25Fe_0.75Zr₃ metallic glassy ribbons were annealed in evacuated quartz ampoules beyond the crystallization temperatures (Tx ~655 K) over the range 773 to 1,173 K for varying periods of time. The resistivity of samples annealed over the temperature range 923 to 1,073 K for periods less than four hours increased as a function of decreasing temperature, while it decreased for samples annealed for more than four hours or at temperatures below 923 K or above 1,073 K for any period of time. All the annealed samples were found to contain only Ni, Fe and Zr from energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses.