The interfacial reactions between aluminosilicate ceramics doped with MgO, CaO, or BaO and Al–7 wt% Si alloy were investigated at 1023, 1173, and 1323 K under vacuum for 4 h. Alkaline-earth oxide additives defined phase formation and microstructure of the sintered ceramics and subsequently controlled the ceramic/metal interfacial reactions, which were always intensive. In general, reaction zones consisted of Al2O3, infiltrated with Al. In the case of CaO- and BaO-doped ceramics, precipitates formed into the metal phase and concentrated the reduced Ca and Ba, respectively. A reaction mechanism is proposed, which anticipates an active role of SiO2.

A high degree of texture was observed in melt-spun Sm(Co0.68Fe0.22Cu0.08Zr0.02)7.7 ribbons prepared by single-roller melt spinning at low wheel speed; their easy magnetization axis was parallel to the ribbon plane. Magnetization studies showed an obvious magnetic anisotropy and a 90% higher remanance in ribbons for the field parallel to the longitudinal direction (8.5 kGs) than that for the field parallel to the wide direction (4.4 kGs); this was attributed to a dendritic structure of needle-size grains (2–3 × 10–40 μm) with their long axis parallel to the ribbon plane. This texture allowed the development of a new process for producing anisotropic permanent magnets. The domain structure was studied by magnetic-force microscope. A highly ordered and strip-shaped magnetic domain structure was observed on the surface of the ribbons. This was due to the preference for tetragonal c-axis orientation parallel to the surface of melt-spun ribbons. We calculated the domain wall energy γ and critical single-domain particle size Dc of Sm(Co0.68Fe0.22Cu0.08Zr0.02)7.7 ribbons.

A systematic composition dependence study on icosahedral phase (i-phase) formation in the Al–Cu–Fe system has been carried out. Structural evolution during mechanical alloying and on subsequent heat treatment has been investigated by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The i-phase is observed to evolve from the reaction between the Al2Cu and b phases. The influence of the Cu to Fe ratio (RCuFe), Al to transition metal ratio (RAlTM), and the electron to atom ratio (e/a) on the volume fraction of the i-phase has been studied. The analysis of the present results and those published earlier indicates that quasicrystal-forming ability correlates better with the RAlTM and e/a ratios. The volume fraction of the i-phase is maximum when the RAlTM ˜ 2.3 and e/a ratio ˜ 2.0. Formation of the i-phase in Al65Cu25Fe10 by mechanical alloying is reported for the first time.

In modulus measurement by depth-sensing indentation, previous considerations assume elastic recovery to be the sole process during unloading, but in reality creep and thermal drift may also occur, causing serious errors in the measured modulus. In this work, the problem of indentation on a linear viscoelastic half-space is solved using the correspondence principle between elasticity and linear viscoelasticity. The correction term due to creep in the apparent contact compliance is found to be equal to the ratio of the indenter displacement rate at the end of the load hold to the unloading rate. A condition for nullifying the effect of thermal drift on modulus measurement is also proposed. With this condition satisfied, the effect of thermal drift on the calculated modulus is negligible irrespective of the magnitude of the drift rate.

The thickness dependence of the dielectric properties of epitaxial BaTiO3 thin films was investigated for thicknesses ranging from 15 to 320 nm. The films were deposited by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on (100) MgO substrates. The relative dielectric permittivity and the loss tangent values decreased with decreasing thickness. High-temperature dielectric measurements showed that with decreasing film thickness, the ferroelectric-to-paraelectric transition temperature decreased, the relative dielectric permittivity decreased, and the phase transition was diffuse. The c/a ratio also decreased with decreasing film thickness. The observed behavior for epitaxial films of BaTiO3 was attributed to the presence of strain in the films.

The structure of ceramic Ba4.5Nd9Ti18O54 was investigated by synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction from 10 to 295 K. Reitveld refinement and Le Bail profile analysis were applied to the data. Based on an orthorhombic structure, unit cell parameters of a = 22.3479(3) Å, b = 7.6955(1) Å, and c = 12.2021(2) Å were obtained at room temperature and a = 22.3367(5) Å, b = 7.6738(1) Å, and c = 12.1842(3) Å at 10 K. No evidence was found for any major structural change from 10 to 295 K. Within the tungsten bronze framework the two pentagonal channels were fully occupied by Ba; the remaining Ba atoms shared the rhombic channels with Nd. Thermal expansion of the unit cell was found to be anisotropic. The largest expansion occurs along the b cell edge, and the least along the a cell edge. It is proposed that the anisotropy is due to enhanced bending of the TiO6 polyhedra chains along the b direction.

A micromachined specimen with a test section only 150-μm thick was developed for investigating subcritical crack growth in silicon. Crack growth rates in the range 10−4–10−10 m/s were measured as a function of applied stress intensity (v–K curves) during tests in humid air and dry nitrogen lasting up to 24 h. The fracture toughness, KIc of {110} silicon was also measured at 1.15 ± 0.08 MPa m1/2. While some evidence MPa-m1/2 of subcritical crack growth appeared to occur in the region 0.9 KIc < K > 0.98 KIc, the extremely high crack growth exponent (n 100) and the high ratio of the apparent stress corrosion threshold, KIscc, to the fracture toughness, KIscc/KIc > 0.9, suggests that no clear evidence exists for a stress corrosion process in silicon exposed to humid air.

Zr70Ni23Ti7 alloy contains a single amorphous phase when it is melt-spun at a wheel surface velocity over 20 m/s. The crystallization of these amorphous ribbons takes place through two exothermic reactions and shows a significant supercooled liquid region of about 30 K, indicating that the Zr70Ni23Ti7 alloy has a good glass-forming ability. The crystallization products of the first exothermic reaction for the ribbon prepared at a wheel surface velocity of 40 m/s are mainly an icosahedral quasicrystalline phase (I-phase) and some Zr2Ni phases. Further heating to a higher temperature will lead to the transformation of the metastable I-phase to Zr2Ni. Some icosahedral atomic clusters with a structure similar to those in face-centered-cubic Zr2Ni may exist in the alloy after rapid quenching, and most of them may act as nuclei of I-phase. The formation of I-phase in this alloy without any noble metals may be due to the proper atomic ratios in the system.

The formation of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7–x (Y123) by in situ pulsed laser deposition from a stoichiometric Y123 target typically requires an oxygen-ambient environment (P ˜ 100–300-mtorr O2) and appropriate substrate temperature during deposition. We have found that pulsed laser deposition from a Y123 target in vacuo onto a (001) LaAlO3 substrate favors the formation of Y2O3. We observed that the Y2O3 (001) films yield three-dimensional nanoscale morphologies that are markedly different from the planar growth surface of conventional superconducting c-axis Y123 films and Y2O3 films formed from the pulsed laser ablation of a Y2O3 target.

Formation of bulk Fe-based glassy alloys with high corrosion resistance was succeeded in the Fe75–x–yCrxMoyC15B10 alloy system. A large temperature interval of supercooled liquid region (ΔTx) of 40–90 K was obtained over a wide composition range for the Fe75?x–yCrxMoyC15B10 alloys. The Fe75–x–yCrxMoyC15B10 alloys were prepared in a bulk glassy form with diameters of 1.0–2.5 mm by copper mold casting. The bulk glassy Fe75–x–yCrxMoyC15B10 alloys exhibited high corrosion resistance in 1 N HCl solution. The glassy alloys containing Cr were spontaneously passivated with a wide passive region before the transpassive dissolution of Cr. The passive current density decreased significantly with an increase of alloying Cr content, indicating that the addition of Cr was effective on enhancing the corrosion resistance. Excess addition of Mo for replacing Fe in the present alloys was detrimental for the corrosion resistance.

The serrated plastic flow of L12 Ni3 (Si,Ti) alloys at intermediate temperature was investigated by tensile tests in terms of the effects of temperature, strain rate, composition, and microstructure. Serrated plastic flow was most strongly observed at 473 K and at a strain rate of 1.6 × 10–4 s–1. Correspondingly, the maximum stress amplitude and the lowest (negative) strain-rate sensitivity were observed at 473 K. Serrated plastic flow took place irrespective of boron doping and was more significant in a fine-grained Ni3 (Si,Ti) alloy. The static aging at 473 K resulted in reduced flow stress. The activation energy for serrated plastic flow was estimated to be about 57 kJ mol–1, suggestive of being smaller than that for lattice diffusion of solutes. The serrated plastic flow behavior of Ni3 (Si,Ti) alloys was compared with that of L12 Co3Ti alloys, and is qualitatively explained on the basis of the dynamics of solutes in the core of a dissociated screw dislocation.

After gibbsite was milled for 5 min in a Cr-steel oscillating mill, corundum was obtained by heating the powder for 3 h at 800 °C. We found that iron contamination, produced by the milling process, is essential to attain the transformation at this low temperature and is located at the surface of the gibbsite particles. The knowledge of the oxidation state and location of the contaminant elements, necessary to control the solid-state reactions and/or phase transformations induced by the milling, was realized in this work by a characterization performed by chemical analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and isoelectric point determination. The iron contamination amounted to about 3% (as Fe2O3) for the sample milled for 60 min. That the iron contamination that occurred mainly on the gibbsite amorphous surface was concluded after a comparison of the isoelectric point determination of the milled samples with that of a mechanical mixture of gibbsite and hematite. X-ray diffraction studies showed that gibbsite looses its crystallinity after the first 5 min of milling.