Using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to study phase separation in alloys

We review recent extensions of the kinetic Ising model used to investigate phase separation in binary alloys. Firstly. vacancies are included to model the diffusion of the atoms on the microscopic scale more realistically. These can change the coarsening rate and the coarsening mechanism. Secondly, the lattice is allowed to deform owing to the different sizes of the atoms and the resulting misfit between precipitates and matrix. The deformability of the lattice induces long-range elastic interactions between the atoms. These change the shape, orientation, and arrangement of the precipitates. The growth of the precipitates need not follow the R(t) proportional to t(1/3) law.