The Kirkendall-effect induced migration of inert markers during the diffusion-controlled growth of Co-Si intermetallics was studied at 1100C. It was demonstrated experimentally that more than one Kirkendall marker plane could appear within the newly formed silicide layers. It was also shown that, under certain conditions, a marker plane could not develop in any of the product phases. This marker behaviour was explained in terms of the velocity of the Kirkendall frame of reference, relative to the laboratory-fixed (Matano) frame. A phenomenological approach was presented which could predict the numbers and positions of the Kirkendall marker planes which developed in a multiphase diffusion zone.

Formation of Co-Si Intermetallics in Bulk Diffusion Couples - II. Manifestations of the Kirkendall Effect Accompanying Reactive Diffusion. M.J.H.Van Dal, A.A.Kodentsov, F.J.J.Van Loo: Intermetallics, 2001, 9[6], 451-6