Energetics of mixing in Bi-Pb and Sb-Sn liquid alloys

We have analysed the energetics of mixing of Bi-Pb and Sb-Sn liquid alloys at respective temperatures 700 and 905 K through the study of their thermodynamic functions and surface properties using four atom cluster model and quasichemical approximation (QCA) approach, respectively. Our study reveals that the two systems exhibit chemical order or heterocoordination, with the degree of chemical order in Sb-Sn being more than that of Bi-Pb. We also observed that while Bi-atoms segregate to the surface of Bi-Pb alloy, Sb-atoms segregate to the surface of Sb-Sn alloys. The degree of segregation of Sb-atoms being more than that of Bi-atoms.     

Bulk and surface properties of liquid Al-Mg, Au-Sn, and Mg-Tl compound forming alloys

We have used phenomenological models based on statistical mechanics to study the bulk and surface properties of Au-Sn, Al-Mg, and Mg-Tl binary liquid alloys. Our study reveals that the three alloys are weakly ordered systems with the most stable intermetallic complexes at temperatures of 823 K, 1073 K and 923 K been AuSn, Al₃Mg₂ and Mg₄Tl, respectively. An analysis of Warren-Cowley short-range order parameter indicates that the weakest intermetallic compound is Al-Mg while Au-Sn is observed to be more chemically ordered than Mg-Tl. Furthermore, our surface properties calculations shows that Mg-atom and Sn-atom segregate to the surface over the whole concentration range of Al-Mg and Au-Sn alloys, respectively. In Mg-Tl, there is a competing effect between Tl-atom being drawn into the bulk and at the same time Tl-atom wanting to segregate to the surface over the whole concentration range.     

Magnetic and electrical transport properties of amorphous Zr-Fe alloys

Amorphous Zr_1?xFe_x samples were prepared in the composition range 0.2 ? x ? 0.9 either by means of vapour deposition or melt spinning. The electrical resistivity was determined in the range 4.2–300 K. Negative temperature coefficients were observed in the whole concentration range. The extended Ziman theory (diffraction model) was found to be able to explain these results only if the effective valence of the Fe atoms involves not only s electrons but also d electrons. The magnetic properties and the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect of the Zr_1?xFe_x alloys were studied in the range 4.2–300 K. The Fe-rich alloys are ferromagnetic. The Fe moment vanishes in alloys of an Fe concentration lower than about 50 at%. In most alloys (x ? 0.8) the Curie temperature is below room temperature and continuously decreases with Zr concentration. By means of Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements it is shown that compositional short-range order (CSRO) is present to a higher degree in melt-spun alloys than in vapour-deposited alloys. The effect of sign and magnitude of the heat of solution on CSRO and the magnetic properties is discussed.     

Quasi-lattice model for the thermodynamic properties and microscopic structure of molten Fe-Si alloy

The quasi-lattice model has been used to study the concentration dependant thermodynamic properties and microscopic structure of Fe-Si alloys in molten state. We have determined the free energy of mixing, excess entropy of mixing, the concentration-concentration structure factor in long wavelength limit [S_CC(0)] and the Warren-Cowley short range order parameter (α₁) of Fe-Si liquid alloy at 1873 K. The observed asymmetry in the properties of mixing of Fe-Si alloy in molten state is successfully explained on the basis of the quasi-lattice model. The analysis suggests that the Fe₂Si complexes are most likely to exist in the liquid state and are strongly interacting in nature. The theoretical analysis suggests that the pairwise interaction energies between the species depend considerably on temperature and the alloy is more ordered towards Fe rich region.     

Thermodynamics and surface properties of liquid Al–Ga and Al–Ge alloys

The surface properties of Al–Ga and Al–Ge liquid alloys have been theoretically investigated at a temperature of 1100 K and 1220 K respectively. For the Al–Ga system, the quasi chemical model for regular alloy and a model for phase segregating alloy systems were applied, while for the Al–Ge system the quasi chemical model for regular and compound forming binary alloys were applied. In the case of Al–Ga, the models for the regular alloys and that for the phase segregating alloys produced the same value of order energy and same values of thermodynamic and surface properties, while for the Al–Ge system, the model for the regular alloy reproduced better the thermodynamic properties of the alloy. The model for the compound forming systems showed a qualitative trend with the measured values of the thermodynamic properties of the Al–Ge alloy and suggests the presence of a weak complex of the form Al₂Ge₃. The surface concentrations for the alloys show that Ga manifests some level of surface segregation in Al–Ga liquid alloy while the surface concentration of Ge in Al–Ge liquid alloy showed a near Roultian behavior below 0.8 atomic fraction of Ge.     

Structural asymmetry in liquid Fe–Si alloys

The thermodynamic properties and microscopic structure of liquid Fe–Si alloys at 1873 K were studied by using the regular associated solution model. The model was utilized to determine the complex concentration in a regular associated solution of Fe, Si and Fe₂Si. The complex concentration was then used to calculate the integral excess free energy of mixing, activity, concentration fluctuations in the long-wavelength limit, S_CC (0), and the Warren–Cowley short-range parameter α ₁. The analysis suggests that heterocoordination leading to the formation of complex Fe₂Si is likely to exist in the liquid and is of a strongly interacting nature. The theoretical analysis reveals that the alloy is more ordered towards the Fe-rich region. The observed asymmetry in the properties of mixing of Fe–Si alloys in the molten state is successfully explained on the basis of the regular associated solution model.     

Theoretical studies of mutual diffusivities and surface properties in Cd-Ga liquid alloys

The mutual diffusion coefficients, activation energy for diffusion, surface concentration and surface tension of the liquid Cd-Ga alloys have been calculated throughout the concentration range using energetics obtained from the theoretical model fits of the experimental thermodynamic data. Our calculations show that Cd-Ga liquid alloys showed immiscibility at a temperature of 723 K between 0.4 and 0.5 atomic fraction of Cd. Within this concentration region and temperature, the mutual diffusion coefficients approached zero values and the activation energy for diffusion reached high peak values of 220 J/mol. It was also observed that within the region of immscibility, the diffusion coefficients do not obey Arrhenius relation over a wide range of temperature.     

Model calculation of the surface tension of liquid Ga-Bi alloy

A convenient model, based on some assumptions, for calculating the composition and temperature dependence of the surface tension of binary liquid alloys is reported. The theoretical calculations of the surface tension of gallium-rich-bismuth alloys are presented. The calculated results are compared with the reported experimental data. A relatively good agreement with experimental behavior of the composition dependence of the surface tension was found, but a disagreement was observed with experimental temperature behavior of the surface tension of these alloys. The calculations were conducted in the temperature range from almost 320 K to about 800 K. The surface tension was calculated from eutectic composition (x_Bi = 0.0022) to x_Bi = 0.1, and worked out by linear equations. The model calculation and analysis indicate a first order surface phase transition in this system, which is in accord with experimental findings. For this system, γ decreases linearly with increasing temperature at fixed Bi mole fraction x_Bi, and thus, suggesting a positive surface excess entropy. It is also found that the surface tension isotherms show the linear dependence on the concentration, in the logarithm scale of x_Bi, in the very narrow concentration range.     

Thermal transport property of Ge34 and d-Ge investigated by molecular dynamics and the Slack’s equation

In this study,we evaluate the values of lattice thermal conductivity κ L of type II Ge clathrate (Ge 34) and diamond phase Ge crystal (d-Ge) with the equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) method and the Slack's equation.The key parameters of the Slack's equation are derived from the thermodynamic properties obtained from the lattice dynamics (LD) calculations.The empirical Tersoff's potential is used in both EMD and LD simulations.The thermal conductivities of d-Ge calculated by both methods are in accordance with the experimental values.The predictions of the Slack's equation are consistent with the EMD results above 250 K for both Ge34 and d-Ge.In a temperature range of 200-1000 K,the κ L value of d-Ge is about several times larger than that of Ge 34.     

Predictions of mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Mg17Al12 and Mg2Sn from first-principles calculations

Using first-principles calculations, we predict mechanical and thermodynamic properties of both Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and Mg₂Sn precipitates in Mg–Al–Sn alloys. The elastic properties including the polycrystalline bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, Lame’s coefficients and Poisson’s ratio of both Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and Mg₂Sn phases are determined with the Voigt–Reuss–Hill approximation. Our results of equilibrium lattice constants agree closely with previous experimental and other theoretical results. The ductility and brittleness of the two phases are characterized with the estimation from Cauchy pressure and the value of B/G. Mechanical anisotropy is characterized by the anisotropic factors and direction-dependent Young’s modulus. The higher Debye temperature of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase means that it has a higher thermal conductivity and strength of chemical bonding relative to Mg₂Sn. The anisotropic sound velocities also indicate the elastic anisotropies of both phase structures. Additionally, density of states and Mulliken population analysis are performed to reveal the bonding nature of both phases. The calculations associated with phonon properties indicate the dynamical stability of both phase structures. The temperature dependences of thermodynamic properties of the two phases are predicted via the quasi-harmonic approximation.     

Concentration dependence of thermodynamic,transport and surface properties in Ag–Cu liquid alloys

Thermodynamic, transport and surface properties of Ag–Cu liquid alloys have been investigated on the basis of a simple statistical model. The free energy of mixing, heat of mixing and entropy of mixing have been computed to understand the thermodynamic properties of Ag–Cu alloys in liquid state at 1,423 K. The concentration–concentration fluctuations in the long wavelength limit and the chemical short range order parameter have been determined to comprehend the microscopic and structural information of the alloy. The viscosity and surface tension of the alloy have been evaluated to analyze the transport and surface properties. The theoretical analysis reveals that the energy parameter is temperature dependent, and that Ag–Cu liquid alloy is a weakly interacting-phase separating system.     

Thermodynamic properties of some gallium-based binary alloys

We have studied the concentration dependence of the free energy of mixing, concentration-concentration fluctuations in the long-wavelength limit, the chemical short-range order parameter, the enthalpy and entropy of mixing of Ga-Zn, Ga-Mg and Al-Ga binary alloys at different temperatures using a quasi-chemical approximation for compound forming binary alloys and that for simple regular alloys. From the study of the thermodynamic quantities, we observed that thermodynamic properties of Ga-Zn and Al-Ga exhibit positive deviations from Raoultian behaviour, while Ga-Mg exhibits negative deviation. Hence, this study reveals that both Ga-Zn and Al-Ga are segregating systems, while chemical order exists in Ga-Mg alloy in the whole concentration range. Furthermore, our investigation indicate that Al-Ga binary alloy have a tendency to exhibit ideal mixture behaviour in the concentration range 0?c_Al?0.30 and 0.7?c_Al?1.     

Observation of the strongly anomalous temperature and composition dependence of (δp/δT)s in liquid Li/Pb alloys

(δp/δT)_s which is proportional to the specific heat has been measured between the liquidus temperature and 1250 K for the whole concentration range of liquid Li/Pb alloys. For all concentrations it shows a positive deviation from the values expected for an ideal solution and it exhibits a narrow peak close to the composition Li₄Pb. The variation of T(δp/δT)_s with T is linear only for pure Pb. At 0.2 < x_Li < 0.6 a fall-off after melting is followed by a broad maximum at about 1000 K.     

Disorder in liquid Cu–Pd alloys

The disorder in thermodynamic and microscopic structure of liquid Cu–Pd alloy at 1350?K has been studied using regular associated solution model. For this, we have calculated free energy of mixing (G_M ), activity (a), concentration fluctuation in long wavelength limit [S_CC (0)] and chemical short-range order parameter (α ₁) of liquid Cu–Pd alloy at 1350?K. The energetic and structural asymmetry of liquid Cu–Pd alloys has been successfully explained on the basis of regular associated solution model.     

Ordering potential: the anomalous structure and properties of liquid KPb alloy

The anomalous structure and related properties of liquid KPb alloy are presented through an ab initio evaluated ordering potential as a function of concentration. It appears that considerable ordering occurs and it maximizes at the stoichiometric composition (c_k∼0.5). We then use the model to obtain the Bhatia-Thornton(BT) structure factors at different compositions (c_k=0.1,0.3,0.5 and 0.8). The calculations of concentration fluctuation and other related thermodynamic properties show that this ordering potential approach works reasonably for this compound forming liquid alloy.     

Ion beam mixing and liquid interdiffusion

Abstract

A characteristic of ion mixing in the low temperature portion of the thermally assisted ion mixing regime is that the activation energy obtained from most experiments is in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 eV. These values are typically a factor of 4 to 10 lower than the vacancy migration energy of most elements. This discrepancy is maintained even when the ion mixing data is contrasted to the more comparable data from concentrated homogeneous alloys. It appears that an explanation of the ion mixing activation energy is not possible by radiation enhanced diffusion (RED) where, at the low temperature end of RED, defect annihilation is by direct vacancy-interstitial recombination and the predicted activation energy is Q = 0.5 E^M _v

In an attempt to understand the origin of the low activation energies obtained during ion mixing we have performed calculations of the mutual diffusion coefficients in binary liquid mixtures. A hard sphere fluid model based on the kinetic gas theory of Enskog was used. The model was corrected to agree with molecular dynamic calculations of liquid state diffusion and included thermodynamic driving forces. The calculations resulted in temperature dependent mixing curves which are in good agreement with ion mixing experiments and suggested that the temperature rise in the thermal spike approximately ranged between 1000 and 4000 K.     

Surface tension measurement of metastable liquid Ti–Al–Nb alloys

Thermophysical properties of liquid alloys are usually difficult to measure, especially for high melting point and reactive alloys. In this work, the surface tensions of superheated and undercooled liquid Ti₅₅Al₄₅, Ti₅₀Al₄₅Nb₅ and Ti₄₅Al₄₅Nb₁₀ alloys are determined by using oscillating drop method under electromagnetic levitation state. The experimental results of Ti–Al and Ti–Al–Nb alloys display linear temperature dependence. The maximum undercoolings of 259 (0.143T _L), 268 (0.146T _L) and 275 K (0.147T _L) are respectively achieved for these three alloys. Furthermore, the viscosities of liquid Ti_55−x Al₄₅Nb _x alloys are also derived from the experimental results.     

First-principles calculations of structural and thermodynamic properties of Y 3Al5O12

The pseudo-potential plane-wave method using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) within the framework of the density functional theory is applied to study the structural and thermodynamic properties of Y ₃Al₅O₁₂. The lattice constants and bulk modulus are calculated. They keep in good agreement with other theoretical data and experimental results. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, in which the phononic effects are considered, is applied to the study of the thermodynamic properties. The temperature effect on the structural parameters, bulk modulus, thermal expansion coefficient, specific heats and Debye temperatures in the whole range from 0 to 20 GPa and temperature range from 0 to 1500 K.     

Structural and certain magnetic characteristics of (Y1−xSmx)Fe2 quasibinary system

In the present work, the character of changes of structural characteristics of (Y_1–xSn_x)Fe₂ ferromagnetic alloys is established as a function of temperature between 290°K and 770°K and of concentration for 0 <= x <= 1.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 50–53, February, 1984.     

Pressure effect on structural,electronic optical and thermodynamic properties of cubic AlxIn1-xP: a first-principles study

ABSTRACT

First-principles total energy calculations have been performed using the full potential linearised augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method as implemented in the WIEN2k code based on the density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the Al-doping effects on the structural, electronic and optical properties of Al_xIn_1-xP ternary alloys in the zinc-blende (ZB) phase. Different approximations of exchange-correlations energy were used such as the local density approximation (LDA), the generalised gradient approximation within parameterisation of Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE-GGA), and the Wu-Cohen (WC-GGA). In addition, we have calculated the band structures with high accuracy using the Tran-Blaha modified Becke–Johnson (TB-mBJ) approach. The pressure dependence of the electronic and optical properties of binary AlP, InP compounds and their related ternary alloys Al_xIn_1-xP were also investigated under hydrostatic pressure for (P?=?0.0, 5.0,10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 25.0?GPa), where it is found that InP compound change from direct to indirect band gap for P?≥?9.16?GPa. Furthermore, we have calculated the thermodynamic properties of InP and AlP binary compounds as well as the Al_xIn_1-xP solid solutions, where the quasi-harmonic Debye model has been employed to predict the pressure and temperature dependent Gibbs free energy, heat capacity, Debye temperature and entropy.