Solid state reactions in nanometer scaled diffusion couples prepared using high energy ball milling

Solid state reactions during heating of diffusion couples prepared by high energy ball milling mixtures of elemental powders have been studied. It has been shown that when the size of the diffusion couples is reduced and the atomic diffusivity is enhanced through prolonged milling, the temperatures for activating the solid state reactions decrease significantly. In the Al–Ti and Cu–Al systems, the phases formed during heating the mechanically prepared nanometer scaled diffusion couples are the same as those formed during mechanical alloying and during low temperature annealing of multilayer thin films prepared by using sputtering.