It was pointed out that the Kirkendall-effect mediated behaviour (migration) of fiducial markers which were originally situated at the contact surface of a diffusion couple could be complex in both the temporal and spatial domains. A phenomenological approach, based upon the concept of the Kirkendall velocity construction, was used to rationalize the movement of inert markers during the diffusion-controlled growth of the β’ AuZn intermetallic phase. It was demonstrated (experimentally and theoretically) that the Kirkendall marker planes could be multiple, stable or unstable within the single-phase reaction product. A general criterion for microstructural instability of the Kirkendall plane was introduced.

Spatio-Temporal Instabilities of the Kirkendall Marker Planes during Interdiffusion in β′-AuZn. M.J.H.Van Dal, A.M.Gusak, C.Cserháti, A.A.Kodentsov, F.J.J.Van Loo: Philosophical Magazine A, 2002, 82[5], 943-54