A generalized Ginzburg-Landau approach for alloys was used to develop a statistical theory of equilibrium antiphase and interphase boundaries in the so-called continuous approximation that was valid for most of situations of practical interest. Within this approach, the structure of an antiphase boundary or interphase boundary in an alloy ordered with a single order parameter was determined by deriving a second-order differential equation for the local concentration versus the local order parameter. Based upon this equation and using various statistical methods (mean-field, pair-cluster, tetrahedron-cluster-field approximations), an investigation was made of a number of general properties of antiphase boundaries and interphase boundaries in the B2- and L10-type ordered structures. A study was made of the dependence of the structure and energy of the antiphase and interphase boundaries upon the concentration, temperature, and type of effective interaction; manifestations of "wetting," "critical," and "tricritical" phenomena in properties of these interfaces; orientational dependences of various characteristics of antiphase and interphase boundaries for the L10-type order; and other problems. In particular, the peculiar phenomena of so-called pseudowetting and pre-wetting were predicted for the antiphase boundaries of Fe-Al-type alloys, sharp anomalies in the properties of antiphase and interphase boundaries near to the tricritical point, and a very strong anisotropy of structure and energy for both antiphase and interphase boundaries in L10-ordered alloys with short-range interactions: such as Cu-Au-type alloys.

Generalized Ginzburg-Landau Theory of Antiphase and Interphase Boundaries in Alloys Ordered with a Single Order Parameter - B2- and L10-Type Ordering. K.Y.Khromov, I.R.Pankratov, V.G.Vaks: Physical Review B, 2005, 72[9], 094207 (22pp)