A new metastable phase in dilute, hot-rolled Mg–Nd alloys

The addition of rare earth (RE) elements to Mg alloys can result in weaker hot deformation and recrystallization textures than those present in conventional Mg alloys. Recent studies of hot-rolled Mg–Nd binary alloys suggest that the texture weakening is influenced by the presence of second-phase particles. In this follow-up study, these particles are characterized morphologically, chemically, and crystallographically using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The particles were observed to have a faceted morphology, particularly in the richer concentrations investigated, a composition of approximately 25 at.% Nd (a stoichiometry of Mg3Nd) and an ordered cubic crystal structure (m3m point group) with a lattice parameter of approximately a ≈ 10.9 Å, which is distinct from that of the equilibrium Mg3Nd phase.