Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Elastic stress arising from differences in lattice parameters between phases is known to alter both qualitatively and quantitatively the characteristics of phase equilibria in coherent systems. One important consequence of misfit or epitaxial strain is the possible existence of several linearly stable equilibrium states: For a given composition, temperature and applied stress, different combinations of volume fraction and corresponding phase compositions render the free energy of the system a minimum. Here, we examine how epitaxial stresses influence phase equilibria in a binary alloy when the system can select from three different phases. In particular, we show the existence of several equilibrium states with different combinations of phases that minimize the system free energy.