Effect of pressure on phase stability in Fe-Cr alloys

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the phase stability of Fe-Cr alloys has been studied using ab initio methods. We show that while pressure decreases the tendency toward the phase separation in the paramagnetic state of bcc alloys, in the ferromagnetic state it reduces the alloy stability at low Cr concentration and vice versa, makes the solid solution more stable at higher concentrations. This behavior of the phase stability can be predicted from the deviation of the lattice parameter from Vegard's law in bcc Fe-Cr alloys. On the atomic level, the pressure effect can be explained by the suppression of the local magnetic moments on Cr atoms, which gives rise to a decrease of the Fe-Cr magnetic exchange interaction at the first coordination shell and, as a result, to the observed variation of the ordering tendency between the Fe and Cr atoms.