Transition to long period stacking ordered structures in Mg₈₅Gd₉Zn₆ alloys from amorphous ribbons examined by synchrotron radiation scattering: Comparison with Mg₈₅Y₉Zn₆ alloys

Transition from supersaturated hcp crystals containing solute clusters into long-period stacking ordered structure has been examined by in-situ synchrotron radiation measurements. Amorphous Mg₈₅Gd₉Zn₆ alloy ribbons were heated at a constant speed of 10 K/s, and small-angle scattering and wide angle diffraction profiles were compared with those obtained for Mg₈₅Y₉Zn₆ amorphous ribbons. Comparison of the developments of microstructures in the two alloys suggested that the key factor that triggers the structural phase transition from hcp to LPSO structure is temperature.