Nanostructured Al88Ni4Sm8 alloys investigated by transmission electron andfield-ion microscopies

This paper presents results on the formation of alpha -Al nanocrystals in A l88Ni4Sm8 amorphous alloy produced by melt spinning. The crystallisation be haviour was examined by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM, HRE M) and atom-probe field-ion microscopy (APFIM). For various annealing treat ments, the nanoparticles grow with a dendritic-like shape: reaching a maxim um average size of 30-35 nm, This rapid growth is shown to be due to a low density of nuclei at the beginning of the nanocrystallisation process and t he diffusion-field impingement which limits the nanocrystal growth is suppo sed to occur much later in this case. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B,V, All ri ghts reserved.