Advanced Materials Research Center, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

The nanostructural evolution and phase transformation of the films of a Zn-Al based alloy (Zn¬68Al¬10Cu¬22 in wt pct) have been studied by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Nanostructural thin films of the Zn-Al based alloy were produced by using an electron beam deposition technique. It was found that a nanocrystalline phase ηn' had a strong preferred crystal orientation at (0002) crystal planes in the as-deposited films. During ageing at 220℃, the decomposition of nanophase ηn' started with clustering to form Z-zones, and transitional phase, which was accompanied by an eutectoid decomposition of the ηn' phase: ηn' →βeut'+T'. Decomposition, such as clustering and the formation of the Z-zones, and the transitional phase etc. were observed in the nanophaseβeut'. The formation and the decomposition of the transitional phase of micrometers in size were involved in the decomposition of the main nanophase ηn'. The mechanism of the Z-zones formation and the stability of nanophases were discussed.