Reactive Diffusion at the Liquid Al/Solid Cu Interface in a High Magnetic Field

Abstract

The kinetics of the reactive diffusion at the liquid Al/solid Cu interface was investigated at T = 973 K, 1023 K, and 1073 K in a high magnetic field of 11.5 T. During the annealing process, three stable compounds (δ, ξ₂, and η₂) layers were formed at the interface of the couples, and a power function relationship between the mean thickness of the diffusion layers and the annealing time kept stable. Without magnetic field, the exponent of the power function for each compound layer was higher than 0.5, but it was close to or even smaller than 0.5 with a magnetic field. Compared with the field-free environment, the migration of the liquid/solid interface due to interdiffusion decreased in the presence of a magnetic field. A considerable decrease in the effective diffusion coefficient under a magnetic field provided a likely explanation for the experimental results.

Keywords:

• High magnetic field
• Interface
• Liquid metal
• Reactive diffusion

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50801011), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, China (Grant No. NCET-06-0289), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (Grant No. 20100471456).