Complex Interfaces and Solid-State Precipitation in Advanced Materials

固态沉淀物是许多天然和人造材料微观结构的主要特征，并支配着它们的性质。然而，理解材料的微观结构仍然是一项艰巨的挑战，更不用说设计了。最近在铝合金中发现了一类新的嵌入界面，这为确定原子尺度的析出机制提供了前景。该项目旨在协同应用最新的显微镜和计算技术来表征这种界面，并在模型合金系统中发展原子尺度的形核和生长机制。预计这项工作将是朝着实际控制具有重要技术价值的材料的固态沉淀迈出的重要一步。

Solid-state precipitates are key features of the microstructures of many natural and artificial materials and govern their properties. Yet understanding, let alone designing, the microstructures of materials remains a formidable challenge. The recent discovery of a new class of embedded interfaces in aluminium alloys offers the prospect of determining the atomic-scale mechanisms of precipitation. This project aims to apply the latest microscopy and computational techniques synergistically to characterise such interfaces and develop atomic-scale mechanisms of nucleation and growth in model alloy systems. It is expected that this work will constitute a major step towards practical control of solid-state precipitation in technologically important materials.