Ion mixing and phase diagrams

Abstract Interactions induced by ion irradiation are generally considered to be non-equilibrium processes, whereas phase diagrams are determined by phase equilibria. These two entities are seemingly unrelated. However, if one assumes that quasi-equilibrium conditions prevail after the prompt events, subsequent reactions are driven toward equilibrium by thermodynamical forces. Under this assumption, ion-induced reactions are related to equilibrium and therefore to phase diagrams. This relationship can be seen in the similarity that exists in thin films between reactions induced by ion irradiation and reactions induced by thermal annealing. In the latter case, phase diagrams have been used to predict the phase sequence of stable compound formation, notably so in cases of silicide formation. Ion-induced mixing not only can lead to stable compound formation, but also to metastable alloy formation. In some metal-metal systems, terminal solubilities can be greatly extended by ion mixing. In other cases, where the two constituents of the system have different crystal structures, extension of terminal solubility from both sides of the phase diagram eventually becomes structurally incompatible and a glassy (amorphous) mixture can form. The composition range where this bifurcation is likely to occur is in the two-phase regions of the phase diagram. These concepts are potentially useful guides in selecting metal pairs that from metallic glasses by ion mixing. In this report, phenomenological correlation between stable (and metastable) phase formation and phase diagram is discussed in terms of recent experimental data.