Many workers have recently conjectured that the underlying forces responsible for icosahedral clustering in crystals may also explain the origin of metallic glass formation. Critical examination of thermochemical structural diagrams and radial distribution functions of good metallic glasses shows that this assertion is unfounded.

Photoplasticity in mercury cadmium telluride, Hg1-x Cdx Te with x = 0.3, has been studied as a function of light frequency and deformation temperature. We show that there is an easily measurable time delay accompanying irradiation of the crystal and the change in stress. This time delay is temperature dependent, suggesting a diffusion of charge carriers, introduced by the light, to the interior of the crystal. A simple analysis is given of the observed temperature dependence that is consistent with the experiments.

A new method of ceramic-to-metal welding has been developed using a pressurized combustion reaction to form Mo—TiB2—Mo and Mo—TiC—Mo couples. Mixtures of Ti powder with B or C between Mo disks were electrically ignited under 3 GPa pressure. The exothermic reaction of the powders resulted in the formation of TiB2 and TiC and reaction with Mo at the metal interface. Weld strengths of the Mo—TiB2—Mo and Mo—TiC—Mo couples were 20—40 MPa and ∼ 10 MPa, respectively.

The influence of specific chemical dopants on the electrophotographic behavior of selenium and its alloys has been established in prior work. This communication describes a chemical procedure that has been found effective in removing electronically active impurities from amorphous selenium. The methodology involves converting contaminated selenium into a chemical intermediate that is separated by selective alcoholic dissolution and then reduced to high-purity selenium. The electrical characteristics of the amorphous films obtained by vacuum evaporation of the latter are determined directly from analysis of xerographic potentials.

Since the definition of quasiperiodicity is intimately connected to the indexing of a Fourier transform, for the case of an icosahedral solid, the step necessary to prove, using diffraction, that an object is quasiperiodic, is described. Various coordinate systems are discussed and reasons are given for choosing one aligned with a set of three orthogonal two-fold axes. Based on this coordinate system, the main crystallographic projections are presented and several analyzed single-crystal electron diffraction patterns are demonstrated. The extinction rules for three of the five icosahedral Bravais quasilattices are compared, and some simple relationships with the six-dimensional cut and projection crystallography are derived. This analysis leads to a simple application for indexing powder diffraction patterns.

The well-known glass-forming alloy Fe40Ni40P14B6 was surface melted by an electron beam traversing its surface at various velocities in an identical manner for both the crystalline and the amorphous state of the alloy. Cross-sectional optical metallography and numerical heat-flow analysis were used to show that (1) crystallization of the amorphous state does not occur during treatment around or in the regrown layer at the highest processing speeds, a behavior consistent with an extrapolation of isothermal nucleation and growth measurements; (2) initial resolidification of the molten layer is always crystalline when the melt pool contacts underlying crystalline material where nucleation is immediate; and (3) solidification front velocities greater than 5 ± 0. 5 cm/s exceed the maximum kinetic limit for growth of the crystalline phase and amorphous layers are formed, a result consistent with the eutectic nature of the alloy. Inconsistencies with the work of previous investigators of this system are discussed.

The glass-forming ability of the three alloy systems Co–Zr, Cu–Zr, and Ni–Zr has been analyzed for three distinct production routes: (1) liquid quenching, (2) vapor deposition, and (3) solidstate reaction. Using the free energy and heats of formation curves obtained from the thermodynamic characterization of the respective alloy systems, a satisfactory rationale can be obtained for amorphous phase formation by all three routes. The analysis shows that while amorphous phase formation by quenching from the high-temperature liquid is clearly dependent on factors such as quench rate and the value TG/TM, it is the low-temperature stability of the amorphous phase relative to the other crystalline structures that enables amorphous phases to be formed by both vapor deposition and solid-state reaction. The underlying free energy curves indicate the interesting possibility of a supersaturation sequence in the nucleation of an amorphous phase by solid-state reaction. The principles underlying thermodynamic characterizations are briefly discussed, and a characterization for Co–Zr is presented.

A number of grain boudary structures prepared from evaporated Au thin films have been investigated using very high-resolution electron microscopy. Particular emphasis has been placed on analyzing [110] tilt boundaries with both low- and high-angle misorientations. Observations of the atomic positions at dislocation cores and close-packed polyhedral shapes at the interface have been made. Symmetric boundaries have been observed as well as interfacial regions where the grain orientations deviate from perfect coincidence and hence the boundary structure exhibits perturbations to the regular polyhedron stacking. The special case of “plane coalescence” has also been observed, as well as the boundary splitting near a hole. The fabrication and observation of a generalized boundary, which cannot be classified as a tilt structure, will also be demonstrated.

The effect of carbon on the mechanical properties of ordered, face-center-cubic Ni3Al has been studied. It has been found that carbon provides no ductihzation to the intermetallic compound, but exerts a large solid solution strengthening effect. The strengthening rate measured is Δσy/ΔC∼0.5G per atom percent carbon, where G is the Ni3Al shear modulus. Auger analysis and lattice parameter measurements were also carried out. The results are discussed with respect to the nature of carbon in grain boundary regions and in the bulk.

The creep behavior of a poly crystalline nickel aluminide with the composition Ni-23.5 at.% Al-0.5 at. % Hf-0.2 at. % B has been measured as a function of stress, temperature, and grain size. At high stresses, of the order of 100 MPa, the strain rate is nonlinear in the stress, with a stress exponent greater than two. Below approximately 10 MPa, at 1033 K, the steady-state strain rate is almost proportional to the stress, indicating that diffusional creep is rate controlling. Calculations of expected Nabarro—Herring and Coble creep rates did not answer whether diffusive mass transport through the grains, or along the grain boundaries, is rate controlling. The grain-size dependence of the strain rate, however, indicates predominance of volume diffusion control, i.e., Nabarro—Herring creep, for our experimental conditions.

Ductile materials are found to sustain brittle fracture when the crack moves at high speed. This fact poses a paradox under current theories of dislocation emission, because even at high velocities, these theories predict ductile behavior. A theoretical treatment of time-dependent emission and cleavage is given which predicts a critical velocity above which cleavage can occur without emission. Estimates suggest that this velocity is in the neighborhood of the sound velocity. The paper also discusses the cleavage condition under mixed mode loading, and concludes that the cleavage condition involves solely the mode I loading, with possible sonic emission under such loadings

An overview is given of a new process that has been used successfully to make numerous ceramic/metal composite materials by directed oxidation of molten metallic precursors. As an example, the formation of A12O3/A1 composites from Al is discussed in detail.

Chemical preparation methods were developed for high-field ZnO varistors which used precipitation techniques to prepare precursor powders. Varistors were made by sintering uniaxially pressed pellets in the range of 675°–740 °C in air. Properties of these varistors included electric fields (E) in the 10–100 kV/cm range at current densities (J) of 5 A/cm2, nonlinearity coefficients (α) greater than 30 for 2.5≤J≤5.O A/cm2, and densities in the range of 65%-99% of theoretical depending both on sintering temperature and composition.

The reaction between SiC powder and H2O has been studied at 400°–800 °C under 10 and 100 MPa. Silicon carbide reacted with H2O to yield amorphous SiO2 and CH4 by the reaction SiC + 2H2O→SiO2 + CH4 above 500 °C. Cristobalite and tridymite crystallized from amorphous silica after the almost complete oxidation of SiC above 700 °C. The oxidation rate, as calculated from the weight gain, increased with temperature and pressure. The Arrhenius plotting of the reaction rate based on a Jander-type model gave apparent activation energies of 167–194 kJ/mol. Contrasted with oxidation in oxidative atmosphere, oxidation in H2O is characterized by the diffusion of H2O and CH4 in an amorphous silica layer where the diffusion seemed to be rate determining. Present results suggest that the oxidation of SiC includes the diffusion process of H2O in silica layers when atmospheres contain water vapor.

Ion implantation and ion beam mixing have been investigated as alternative techniques to hightemperature diffusion for introducing dopants into LiNbO3. Heavy ion bombardment at both 77 and 300 K initiated a near-surface decomposition causing Li to diffuse to the surface where it formed a nonuniform agglomerate. The damage and annealing characteristics of this effect were studied by ion scattering/channeling, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and optical microscopy. The origins of the surface decomposition are discussed along with possible solutions, and selected samples were evaluated for waveguide properties.

A promising method for the preparation of sizeable quantities of structurally well-defined, highpurity MgO powder is reported. The morphology and surface uniformity of the powder is comparable to that of MgO smokes but with narrow size distribution of particles. Sample characterization of these oxide powders is accomplished by combining structural TEM/STEM examination with krypton gas adsorption isotherms. The latter technique is sensitive to the presence of surface hydroxyl groups and of surface roughness on an atomic scale. Highresolution TEM indicates a perfect cubic morphology, intra-crystallite orientation, and dendritic sintering of cubes. In the STEM mode sharp convergent beam electron diffraction patterns are obtained, and in thick specimen regions Kikuchi lines appear, indicating the absence of crystal defects. After prolonged outgassing to remove surface hydroxyl groups, a krypton adsorption isotherm contains a near vertical submonolayer riser and second layer step along with partial wetting features near saturation. These near-ideal dendritic ceramic powders, therefore, provide a research bridge between single crystal surface studies and large-scale powder technology.

It is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that fracture toughness does not directly influence the Weibull modulus of ceramic bending strength for materials that obey the Griffith criterion for crack propagation. Weibull modulus remains unchanged as toughness is increased. However, toughness variations with crack length do affect the Weibull modulus. Thus materials that display R-curve behavior or Dugdale character give an increased Weibull modulus and appear more reliable.

The effects of aging on the upper yield stress τup and serrated flow have been studied in MnO single crystals at 900 °C for oxygen partial pressures ρO2 of 10−11 and 10−7 Pa. Aging initially increases τup as a consequence of segregation of aliovalent impurities to dislocations for both ρO2 values. For long aging times and ρO2 = 10-11 Pa, serrated flow accompanied by solute softening is observed. The data fit predictions of a Portevin-Le Chatelier model for serrations, but with impurity atmospheres causing softening instead of hardening. This is believed to result from changes in local defect equilibria caused by segregation of impurities with valences greater than two to dislocations.

Optical measurements have been made on glasses quenched from a series of sodium silicate melts as well as germanate, borate, and phosphate liquids containing CoO. The spectral data show that Co+2 is the species stabilized in oxide melts heated in air. The observed bands occur at 2700–3850, 5750–7900, and 15 500–18 600 cm-1. The independence of the optical parameters from melt composition and known melt structures, the high relative intensity of the highfrequency band, and the low calculated value of the Racah B parameter relative to the free ion value indicate that Co+2 forms a distinct tetrahedral complex in the quenched melt.

BeF2 glasses are potentially useful materials for light transmission in the near infrared region of the spectrum. While the intrinsic attenuation of BeF2 is thought to be much lower than silica, the optimum wavelength will be further in the infrared, near 2.1 μ. In this spectral region impurities other than transition metals may be important—rare earths, for example. The data required to estimate the contributions to attenuation are normally not available; hence it is the purpose of the present work to provide that information. Using a binary BeF2/ThF4 glass, the optical absorption spectra of a number of rare earths are measured. The experimental procedures, optical spectra, and absorption strength are described.