A new method was presented for measuring diffusion coefficients in liquid metals, under convection-free conditions, by using solid/liquid-liquid/solid trilayers. The advantage of this sort of trilayer was that effects which arose from gravity-induced and Marangoni convection could be eliminated. The present trilayers were prepared by using a multi-target ion-beam sputtering deposition technique, and were annealed in an electric furnace under Ar. The interdiffusion of liquid Zn and Sn at 500C was investigated, and the diffusion concentration profiles were determined by means of energy dispersive spectroscopy. It was found that the interdiffusion coefficients ranged from 1.0 x 10-6 to 2.8 x 10-6cm2/s. These values were lower than published values which had been measured by using the capillary reservoir technique under conditions where convection occurred.

Determination of Interdiffusion Coefficients of Liquid Zinc and Tin under Convectionless Conditions. J.H.Zhao, R.P.Liu, M.Zhang, Z.H.Zhou, X.Y.Zhang, L.M.Cao, D.Y.Dai, Y.F.Xu, W.K.Wang: Applied Physics A, 2000, 70[2], 2l9-22