Disorder in Mn+1AXn phases at the atomic scale

Chenxu Wang, Tengfei Yang, Cameron L. Tracy, Chenyang Lu, Hui Zhang, Yong-Jie Hu, Lumin Wang, Liang Qi, Lin Gu, Qing Huang, Jie Zhang, Jingyang Wang, Jianming Xue, Rodney C. Ewing () and Yugang Wang ()
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Chenxu Wang: Stanford University
Tengfei Yang: Peking University
Cameron L. Tracy: Stanford University
Chenyang Lu: University of Michigan
Hui Zhang: Monash University
Yong-Jie Hu: University of Michigan
Lumin Wang: University of Michigan
Liang Qi: University of Michigan
Lin Gu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qing Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jie Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jingyang Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jianming Xue: Peking University
Rodney C. Ewing: Stanford University
Yugang Wang: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Atomic disordering in materials alters their physical and chemical properties and can subsequently affect their performance. In complex ceramic materials, it is a challenge to understand the nature of structural disordering, due to the difficulty of direct, atomic-scale experimental observations. Here we report the direct imaging of ion irradiation-induced antisite defects in Mn+1AXn phases using double CS-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and provide compelling evidence of order-to-disorder phase transformations, overturning the conventional view that irradiation causes phase decomposition to binary fcc-structured Mn+1Xn. With the formation of uniformly distributed cation antisite defects and the rearrangement of X anions, disordered solid solution γ-(Mn+1A)Xn phases are formed at low ion fluences, followed by gradual transitions to solid solution fcc-structured (Mn+1A)Xn phases. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the order-to-disorder transformations in Mn+1AXn phases and proposes a method for the synthesis of new solid solution (Mn+1A)Xn phases by tailoring the disorder.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08588-1

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