Metastable Materials

**61**

**Chapter 5**

*Chih-Yuan Chen*

technological forecasting

**1. Introduction**

materials in industry.

**Abstract**

Insight into Bulk Metallic Glass

Trajectory: Mapping from Patent

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) having a completely amorphous structure possess many attractive properties, and several groups from academia and industry have conducted research to expand their application in the market. Although many efforts have focused on investigating scientific issues related to the mechanical and chemical properties of these amorphous alloys, very few studies have assessed the development trends of these amorphous materials, especially from the viewpoint of market application and R&D directions. Therefore, in this chapter, the development trajectory of BMG materials is summarized based on data extracted from patent bibliometric information. These data were used because the information on patent documents obtained from a commercial patent database, World Intellectual Property Service (WIPS 2.0), can provide the most comprehensive information on valuable R&D activities and market issues. The results summarize advances in technology based on various alloy categories and processing routes. Furthermore, the research interests are also analyzed according to different countries, companies, and research institutions. The patent information provided in this chapter can provide a clear direction to assist metallurgist/metallurgy engineers in further

Technology Development

technology development forecasting and R&D plan management.

**Keywords:** metastable material, bulk glass metal, bibliometrics, patent analysis,

Discovered by Klement et al. in the early 1960s, amorphous metallic glasses have attracted much attention for several decades due to their outstanding properties, such as excellent mechanical properties, good corrosion resistance, and unique physical and chemical characteristics. These metallic materials are suitable for application as a new class of advanced materials [1–3]. However, their tiny size, a result of their limited glass-forming ability (GFA), makes it difficult to use BMG

Therefore, over the past decades, three main directions have been followed in the development of higher-quality BMG materials with better properties. These directions are as follows: (1) new compositions of metallic alloys [4–6], (2) novel

Information Analysis
