  We investigate the effect of a single heat treatment cycle on the potential
energy states and mechanical properties of metallic glasses using molecular
dynamics simulations. We consider the three-dimensional binary mixture, which
was initially cooled with a computationally slow rate from the liquid state to
the solid phase at a temperature well below the glass transition. It was found
that a cycle of heating and cooling can relocate the glass to either
rejuvenated or relaxed states, depending on the maximum temperature and the
loading period. Thus, the lowest potential energy is attained after a cycle
with the maximum temperature slightly below the glass transition temperature
and the effective cooling rate slower than the initial annealing rate. In
contrast, the degree of rejuvenation increases when the maximum temperature
becomes greater than the glass transition temperature and the loading period is
sufficiently small. It was further shown that the variation of the potential
energy is inversely related to the dependence of the elastic modulus and the
yield stress as functions of the maximum loading temperature. In addition, the
heat treatment process causes subtle changes in the shape of the radial
distribution function of small atoms. These results are important for
optimization of thermal and mechanical processing of metallic glasses with
predetermined properties.
