X-Ray Diffraction Measurements of Stacking Faults in Alpha Silver-Tin Alloys

Abstract
Stacking‐fault probabilities and dislocation densities were studied by means of x‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy in both filed and compressed bulk specimens from a series of dilute silver alloys. In the filed samples the observed stacking‐fault probabilities increased smoothly from 3×10−3 for pure silver to 66×10−3 for 10.3 at. % tin. The values obtained from the compressed bulk specimens were 6×10−3 and 95×10−3, respectively. Direct determinations of the dislocation densities were made in the bulk specimens (1 to 5×1011 cm−2) leading to computed values for the stacking‐fault energy in the range 2 to 6 erg·cm−2, with a slight dip for pure silver. Values for the dislocation density in the filed samples were also calculated. The effect of directed residual stresses measured on the bulk specimens was shown to be negligible with respect to the low‐angle diffraction line shifts attributed to faulting.