Abstract
The early precipitation of a Cu-Ni-P alloy during aging for 100 ks at 523 K and 623 K (250 °C and 350 °C) after solution treatment has been characterized using a three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is shown that the particles have a wide range of Ni/P ratios when they are relatively small, whereas larger ones exhibit a narrow distribution of the Ni/P ratio, approaching the ratio of approximately two. The threshold radii that show the steady Ni/P ratio are around 1.5 nm and 2.0 nm for the materials aged at 523 K and 623 K (250 °C and 350 °C), respectively. These values are in a reasonably good agreement with the critical nuclei radius estimated from classic nucleation theory. It is suggested that the particles with steady Ni/P ratios of approximately two are considered to be the equilibrium precipitates formed through nucleation, whereas the extremely fine particles with varying Ni/P ratios, detected by the 3DAP experiments, indicate subcritical clusters or embryos.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Drs. D.W. Saxey and E.A. Marquis for their assistance in performing the 3DAP experiments. Mr. S. Namba and Dr. T. Murakami are warmly thanked for fruitful discussions.
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Manuscript submitted July 14, 2011.
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Aruga, Y., Nako, H. Experimental and Theoretical Measurements of the Evolution of Embryos Before and During the Nucleation Stage. Metall Mater Trans A 43, 1102–1108 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-011-0950-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-011-0950-2