Self-diffusion of Sn atoms in Cu3Sn probed by quasielastic nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation -: art. no. 184302

We report on studies to determine the elementary diffusion jump of minority Sn atoms in the gamma phase of the intermetallic copper-tin alloy. The diffusionally accelerated decay from a crystalline Cu84Sn16 sample at elevated temperatures has been probed by quasielastic nuclear scattering of synchrotron radiation. The diffusional acceleration of the nuclear decay after excitation by a synchrotron flash shows a clear dependence on the sample orientation. Comparing this dependence to model calculations for the diffusionally accelerated decay suggests that tin jumps via antistructure sites of the D0(3) ordered crystal lattice.