Phase nucleation through confined spinodal fluctuations at crystal defects evidenced in Fe-Mn alloys
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Analysis and design of materials and fluids requires understanding of the fundamental relationships between structure, composition, and properties. Dislocations and grain boundaries influence microstructure evolution through the enhancement of diffusion and by facilitating heterogeneous nucleation, where atoms must overcome a potential barrier to enable the early stage of formation of a phase. Adsorption and spinodal decomposition are known precursor states to nucleation and phase transition; however, nucleation remains the less well-understood step in the complete thermodynamic sequence that shapes a microstructure. Here, we report near-atomic-scale observations of a phase transition mechanism that consists in solute adsorption to crystalline defects followed by linear and planar spinodal fluctuations in an Fe-Mn model alloy. These fluctuations provide a pathway for austenite nucleation due to the higher driving force for phase transition in the solute-rich regions. Our observations are supported by thermodynamic calculations, which predict the possibility of spinodal decomposition due to magnetic ordering.
Date Issued
2018-03-19
Date Acceptance
2018-02-23
Citation
Nature Communications, 2018, 9, pp.1-11
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000427698700006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
ATOM-PROBE TOMOGRAPHY
BCC ALLOYS
DECOMPOSITION
GIBBS ADSORPTION EQUATION
GRAIN-BOUNDARY
MAGNETIC INTERCHANGE ENERGIES
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
SOLUTE SEGREGATION
STRUCTURAL STATES
SURFACE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 1137
Date Publish Online
2018-03-19