Crystal growth in undercooled melts of the intermetallic compounds FeSi and CoSi

Abstract

Alloy melts of the intermetallic compounds FeSi and CoSi were deeply undercooled using the melt fluxing technique. Crystal-growth velocities were measured as a function of undercooling by a high-speed photosensing infrared device. The experimental results were analyzed in the framework of dendrite growth theories with special emphasis placed on the kinetic interface undercooling. This analysis gives insight into nonequilibrium effects occurring during rapid solidification of undercooled melts of intermetallic compounds due to short-range diffusion-limited dendritic growth.