title: Direct measurement of microstructural avalanches during the martensitic transition of cobalt using coherent x-ray scattering.
abstract: Heterogeneous microscale dynamics in the martensitic phase transition of cobalt is investigated with real-time x-ray scattering. During the transformation of the high-temperature face-centered cubic phase to the low-temperature hexagonal close-packed phase, the structure factor evolution suggests that an initial rapid local transformation is followed by a slower period during which strain relaxes. Coherent x-ray scattering measurements performed during the latter part of the transformation show that the kinetics is dominated by discontinuous sudden changes-avalanches. The spatial size of observed avalanches varies widely, from 100 nm to 10 μm, the size of the x-ray beam. An empirical avalanche amplitude quantifies this behavior, exhibiting a power-law distribution. The avalanche rate decreases with inverse time since the onset of the transformation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanborn
authors.forename: Karl F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sutton