Progress of nanostructured metallic glasses

Today's technologies are primarily based on crystalline materials (metals, semiconductors, etc.), for their properties can be controlled by changing their chemical and/or defect microstructures. This is not possible in today's glasses. The new features of nanostructured glasses consisting of nanometer-sized glassy regions connected by interfaces are that their properties may be controlled by changing their chemical and/or defect microstructures, and that their interfaces each have a new kind of non-crystalline structure. In this paper we mainly discuss the research progress of nanostructured metallic glasses, including their preparation methods, structure characteristics and new properties. By utilizing these new features, an era of new technologies based on non-crystalline materials (a “glass age”) can be opened up.