Kinetics of ordering in metallic alloys

Abstract

Electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties of metallic alloys depend on their state of chemical order. The systematic perturbations of ⁵⁷Fe hyper-fine magnetic fields by solute atoms near ⁵⁷Fe atoms can be used to measure the degree of order, provided that the systematics of these perturbations are properly understood. Although the equilibrium states of order in alloys are largely known, kinetic theories of the disorder → order transformation are still maturing, and Mössbauer spectrometry can contribute to their development. Examples of how Mössbauer spectrometry can be used to determine some novel features of ordering in ternary alloys are described.