Mechanical alloying of the immiscible system W-Cu

The formation of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases in the immiscible binary system W-Cu by mechanical alloying was studied. By HRTEM it was found that the amorphous matrix contains distorted tungsten crystallites with 1 to 1.5 nm size. In addition, the amorphous phase was found at the surface of the original particles. By X-ray analysis, the lattice parameter of the BCC-W, the relative amount of the amorphous phase and its atomic environment at different mechanical alloying times are studied. Beyond a certain time, MA is found to cause amorphization rather than increasing the solid solubility.