Positron annihilation study of η' precipitation kinetics in an aluminium alloy

Abstract

The decomposition of a technical Al-based alloy (Zergal 4) has been studied by positron annihilation techniques. The observed dependence of annihilation characteristics on the aging time is attributed to a change in the positron state due to the transformation of Guinier-Preston zones into semicoherent eta ' particles. Predictions based on the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner precipitation theory are in excellent agreement with the experiment data.