Annealing behaviour of magnesium and aluminum implanted with iron ions

Magnesium and aluminum were alloyed by implantation with iron ions. The implantation energy was 200 keV while the ion doses ranged over several decades up to 9x1017 cm-2. In this way it was possible to obtain highly disordered alloyed layers with up to 90 at.% iron [1]. To study possible ordering and redistribution processes samples were annealed in vacuum at subsequently increasing temperatures up to 600 °C for aluminium and up to 400 °C for magnesium. The annealing process was observed by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, Auger electron depth profiling, and x-ray diffraction. In the case of the Fe-Al system iron aluminides are formed. In the case of the Fe-Mg system (insoluble with each other), a-iron is precipited in small clusters.
[1] H. Reuther, M. Betzl, W. Matz, E. Richter, Hyperfine Interactions 113 (1998) 391