The mechanisms of stress relaxation in metallic glasses under high strain rates are
an area of active study. The lack of extended structure forces strain accommodation through
alternative modes to slip. For example, amorphous Ce3Al has been shown to undergo a phase
transition to the crystalline FCC Ce3Al at 25 GPa under quasistatic loading. Whether this
mechanism extends to high strain rates has yet to be determined. We present results of
an initial study into the ultrafast deformation characteristics of a Ce-Al bulk metallic glass.
Using the Janus laser at the Jupiter Laser Facility (LLNL), thin targets 30 micron in thickness
were shocked over a range of pressures up to 30 GPa. The velocity of the target rear surface
was measured using a line-imaging VISAR to reveal features in the wave profile attributed
to stress relaxation. In addition, experiments were performed on crystalline forms of Ce-Al
prepared through heat treatment of the amorphous material. Preliminary results reveal a
distinct precursor wave above and below 1.5 GPa, which gives way to a complex multiwave
structure around 1.5 GPa, most likely indicative of a polyamorphic transition.