The Zr-Al-Ni-Cu alloy is a typical metallic glass, which has excellent physical and chemical properties based on a wide super cooled liquid region.   Ion implantation is an alternative method to created non-equilibrium phase by nuclear and electronic energy deposition，and to embed simultaneously an additional element.   In the present paper,   nano-crystalline formation and its effects on the mechanical properties were examined in Zr₆₅Cu_17.5Ni₁₀Al_7.5 alloy irradiated by ion beams.

The samples used in the present study were metallic glass ribbons prepared by the melt spinning method and were amorphous films prepared by the RF magnetron sputtering method.  Ions of Mg, P, and Bi with the 200 – 500 keV were implanted into the sample at　room temperature.  The structural and compositional changes of the ion implanted surface were investigated by transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS).  Mechanical properties were examined by micro-vickers and nano-indentation techniques.  Nano-crystalline precipitates of fcc-Zr₂Cu were effectively formed with a size of 5 - 20 nm in the amorphous matrix by ion irradiation to fluences above 1 x 10¹⁶ cm^-2, although the long-range ordering of the structure was not observed in the X-ray diffraction patterns.  The size and the concentration of the ion-induced precipitates were increased with the nuclear energy deposition of the ion, and the structure of the precipitates was independent on the ion species.   The hardness and elastic modulus estimated by the nano-indatation were proportional the volume fraction of the ion-induced precipitates.