It was noted that the diffusion-multiple approach could be used to map phase diagrams with an efficiency that was some orders of magnitude better than that of the equilibrated alloy method. However, the reliability of the results was questioned here; especially as to whether the data obtained from diffusion multiples could produce reliable equilibrium phase diagrams. The topics considered were the establishment of local equilibrium at the phase interfaces, the X-ray interaction volume with respect to the thickness of the phases, the reliability of phase diagrams found from equilibrated alloys, the usefulness of electron back-scattering diffraction, the impurity-induced stabilization of metastable phases and missing-phase situations. A direct comparison was made of several ternary systems; obtained using both diffusion multiples and equilibrated alloys. A good agreement between them demonstrated the reliability of phase diagrams, as deduced from diffusion multiples.

Reliability of the Diffusion-Multiple Approach for Phase Diagram Mapping. J.C.Zhao: Journal of Materials Science, 2004, 39[12], 3913-25