Mechanical alloying of cobalt and boron powders

Mechanical alloying was performed on elemental cobalt and boron powders in the atomic ratio Co67B33. The process was monitored by X-ray diffraction spectra taken at regular time intervals. The progressive lowering of the crystalline peaks' intensity accompanied by the formation of an amorphous halo was observed; in the final stages peaks due to crystalline t-Co2B began to emerge. With the exception of the time scale, the evolution of the system was similar to that of a previous preparation carried out under different energy conditions. The structure functions and radial distribution functions were calculated from quantitative X-ray diffraction data taken near complete sample amorphization to follow the details of the milling process at these stages.