Initial Phase Formation During Interdiffusion

ABSTRACTIn multiphase materials systems involved in coatings, composites or multilayered structures, diffusion treatments often results in the development of intermediate phases at the reaction interfaces. While diffusional growth of phases has received much attention, the initial phase evolution involves a nucleation stage as well. The development of metastable phases during solid state interdiffusion demonstrates that the nucleation reaction can be controlling in some cases. For alloy systems with extensive solubility, intermediate phase nucleation is proceeded by interdiffusional mixing in order to achieve the required supersaturation. This leads to the identification of a critical concentration gradient for the onset of phase nucleation.The concentration gradient and the relative magnitudes of the component diffusivities provide a basis for a phase selection strategy and the application of a kinetic bias to modify the phase selection. For multicomponent alloy systems, the identification of the operative diffusion pathway is central to the control of phase formation. Experimental access to the nucleation stage of reaction is facilitated in thin film multilayer samples where the results from systems with both extensive and limited solubility offer new insight into the phase formation kinetics.