In this cooperative research project between Dr. S.J. Poon and Dr. Gary Shiflet, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and Dr. K.H. Kuo and Zhang Ze, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China, the structural and kinetic properties of quasicrystalline phases in rapidly solidified metallic alloys will be investigated. Two alloys which are known to form metallic glasses will be used as model systems for detailed studies. The discovery of a new class of ordered structures, known as icosahedral phases, in rapidly solidified metallic alloys has generated active interest and research efforts to determine the atomic-scale configuration and long range order of these new phases. This project will attempt to reconcile predictions of certain structural models with electron and x-ray diffraction patterns obtained during the experiment. It is hoped that this cooperative effort will contribute to the understanding of the formability, stability, and structure of the novel class of materials.
