View article

Metallic glasses have a very high strength, hardness and elastic limit. However, they rarely show tensile ductility at room temperature and are considered quasi-brittle materials^,. Although these amorphous metals are capable of shear flow, severe plastic instability sets in at the onset of plastic deformation, which seems to be exclusively localized in extremely narrow shear bands ∼10 nm in thickness^,,,,,,,,,,. Using in situ tensile tests in a transmission electron microscope, we demonstrate radically different deformation behaviour for monolithic metallic-glass samples with dimensions of the order of 100 nm. Large tensile ductility in the range of 23–45% was observed, including significant uniform elongation and extensive necking or stable growth of the shear offset. This large plasticity in small-volume metallic-glass samples did not result from the branching/deflection of shear bands or nanocrystallization. These …