Phase Identification of Cu-In Alloys with 45 and 41.25 at.% In Compositions

Abstract

In this work, the thermal stability of Cu-In alloys with 45.0 and 41.2 at.% In nominal compositions was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy, wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, and in-situ synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (S-PXRD) over a temperature range from 25 up to 400C. The studied samples are mainly composed of a Cu11In9 phase together with minor amounts of the B phase (based on the NiAs-Ni2In type structure and, in one of the samples, with a minor amount of pure In. No evidence of the Cu10In7 (41.2 at.% In) phase was detected, not even in the sample with 41.2 at.% In nominal overall composition. The combined use of the S-PXRD and DSC techniques allowed us to identify two phase transitions involving the Cu11In9 phase, one of them corresponding to the etha' = B + Cu11In9 reaction at T = 290C and the other to the peritectic etha' + L = Cu11In9 reaction at T = 311C.