Modulation of structural short-range order due to chemical patterning in multi-component amorphous interfacial complexions

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Hauptverfasser: Hessong, Esther C., Zhang, Zhengyu, Lei, Tianjiao, Xu, Mingjie, Aoki, Toshihiro, Rupert, Timothy J.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Hessong, Esther C.
Zhang, Zhengyu
Lei, Tianjiao
Xu, Mingjie
Aoki, Toshihiro
Rupert, Timothy J.
author_facet Hessong, Esther C.
Zhang, Zhengyu
Lei, Tianjiao
Xu, Mingjie
Aoki, Toshihiro
Rupert, Timothy J.
contents Amorphous interfacial complexions have been shown to restrict grain growth and improve damage tolerance in nanocrystalline alloys, with increased chemical complexity stabilizing the complexions themselves. Here, we investigate local chemical composition and structural short-range order in Cu-rich, multi-component nanocrystalline alloys to understand how dopants self-organize within these amorphous complexions and how local structure is altered. High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and elemental analysis are used to study both grain boundaries and interphase boundaries, with chemical partitioning observed for both. Notably, the amorphous-crystalline transition region is observed to be enriched in certain dopant species and depleted of others as compared to the interior of the amorphous complexions. This chemical patterning can be explained in terms of the elemental preference for ordered or disordered grain boundary environments. As only a qualitative measure of structural short-range order can be obtained with nanobeam electron diffraction for these specimens, atomistic simulations with a custom-built machine learning interatomic potential are then used to probe how dopant patterning affects local structural state. Increased grain boundary chemical complexity is found to result in a more disordered complexion structure, with segregation to the amorphous-crystalline transition regions driving changes in local structure that are sensitive to dopant ratios. As a whole, the intimate connection between local chemistry and order in amorphous interfacial complexions is demonstrated, opening the door for microstructural engineering within the amorphous complexions themselves.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_06166
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Modulation of structural short-range order due to chemical patterning in multi-component amorphous interfacial complexions
Hessong, Esther C.
Zhang, Zhengyu
Lei, Tianjiao
Xu, Mingjie
Aoki, Toshihiro
Rupert, Timothy J.
Materials Science
Amorphous interfacial complexions have been shown to restrict grain growth and improve damage tolerance in nanocrystalline alloys, with increased chemical complexity stabilizing the complexions themselves. Here, we investigate local chemical composition and structural short-range order in Cu-rich, multi-component nanocrystalline alloys to understand how dopants self-organize within these amorphous complexions and how local structure is altered. High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and elemental analysis are used to study both grain boundaries and interphase boundaries, with chemical partitioning observed for both. Notably, the amorphous-crystalline transition region is observed to be enriched in certain dopant species and depleted of others as compared to the interior of the amorphous complexions. This chemical patterning can be explained in terms of the elemental preference for ordered or disordered grain boundary environments. As only a qualitative measure of structural short-range order can be obtained with nanobeam electron diffraction for these specimens, atomistic simulations with a custom-built machine learning interatomic potential are then used to probe how dopant patterning affects local structural state. Increased grain boundary chemical complexity is found to result in a more disordered complexion structure, with segregation to the amorphous-crystalline transition regions driving changes in local structure that are sensitive to dopant ratios. As a whole, the intimate connection between local chemistry and order in amorphous interfacial complexions is demonstrated, opening the door for microstructural engineering within the amorphous complexions themselves.
title Modulation of structural short-range order due to chemical patterning in multi-component amorphous interfacial complexions
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.06166