Measurement of planar fault energies in Ni₃Ge-Fe₃Ge intermetallic alloys

A combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and image simulations has facilitated a highly quantitative measure of superdislocation dissociations. The experimental observations have been corrected for image shifts within the framework of anisotropic elasticity by comparison with simulated images. This allows experimental quantification of planar fault energies, thus providing a benchmark for first principles and atomistic simulations and fundamental insight towards alloy modeling and design. Such measurements of superdislocation dissociations on the order of 1-15 nm have been recorded for the pseudobinary Ni₃Ge-Fe₃Ge alloy system. These detailed measurements of fault widths obtained by weak-beam TEM observations of deformation structures will be presented and discussed as a function of alloy composition. The transition from anomalous to normal temperature dependence of yielding behavior in these alloys will also be discussed in terms of observed dislocation structures and planar fault energies calculated using the above measurements.