ABSTRACT
In recent years, researchers have increasingly turned to nontraditional processing technologies in order to
obtain novel compositions and highly refined microstructures. Among these techniques, mechan-
ochemical synthesis (also referred to as mechanical alloying [MA] or high-energy mechanical milling
[HEMM]) has emerged as a leading alternative to equilibrium melt-growth processes. This is due not
only because of its relative convenience and minimal requirement for complex equipment, but also
because the solid-state nature of the process exhibits many of the characteristics of rapid solidification
enabling researchers to probe the nature of metastable crystalline and amorphous structures. The
number of researchers citing MA as their primary processing tool increased dramatically during the
1990s to the point where it has become an accepted tool in the materials scientists’ arsenal, along with
melt spinning, chill casting, laser processing, and gas atomization. In fact, the 14 year period from 1989 to
2003 gave rise to over 150 research papers, exclusively devoted to the processing of thermoelectric
materials by MA.
