Short-range ordering in face-centered-cubic Ni3Al

Films of fcc Ni3Al with suppressed short-range order (SRO) were prepared by physical vapor deposition of Ni3Al onto room-temperature substrates. Extended electron energy-loss fine-structure spectra were obtained from both Al K and Ni L23 edges. After the samples were annealed for various times at 150 °C, a moderate growth of SRO was observed in the first-nearest-neighbor environments of both the Al and Ni atoms. As prepared, these fcc Ni3Al materials, and presumably others having similar heat evolutions as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, have a high degree of chemical disorder.