Abstract
An infinite number of crystal structures in a multicomponent alloy with a specific atomic ratio can be devised, although only thermodynamically-stable phases can be formed. Here, we experimentally show the first example of a layer-structured pseudo-binary alloy, theoretically called Z3-FePd3. This Z3 structure is achieved by adding a small amount of In, which is immiscible with Fe but miscible with Pd and consists of an alternate L10 (CuAu-type)-PdFePd trilayer and Pd–In ordered alloy monolayer along the c axis. First-principles calculations strongly support that the specific inter-element miscibility of In atoms stabilizes the thermodynamically-unstable Z3-FePd3 phase without significantly changing the original density of states of the Z3-FePd3 phase. Our results demonstrate that the specific inter-element miscibility can switch stable structures and manipulate the material nature with a slight composition change.
Highlights
An infinite number of crystal structures in a multicomponent alloy with a specific atomic ratio can be devised, only thermodynamically-stable phases can be formed
We analysed the NPs with the Pd/In/Fe atomic ratio of 63/14/23 (Pd/ In = 82/18 at.% and Pd/Fe = 73/27 at.%), which was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX)
We proposed the concept that the inter-element miscibility stabilizes a binary alloy with an ordered structure
Summary
An infinite number of crystal structures in a multicomponent alloy with a specific atomic ratio can be devised, only thermodynamically-stable phases can be formed. The Fe–Ni–N compound formed during this process possessed a crystal structure with a unit cell composed of one Fe–N layer sandwiched by two Ni layers in such a way as to reflect the better binding affinity of Fe with N, such as N2 dissociation by Fe catalyst[13] This structural transformation caused by the interelement affinity of an interstitial N with Fe and Ni inspired us to analogically consider that the transformation from well-known to unexplored structures of a binary alloy could be achieved by the difference in the miscibility of a substitutional third element with the two kinds of elements in binary alloys. This idea that the inter-element miscibility of the third element works as a stabilizer of an ordered structure gives us an opportunity for the experimental discovery of a variety of novel ordered structures
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