ABSTRACT
The process of transition from the amorphous or liquid to crystalline state can be considered as a transition of the order-disorder type. In principle, this can be done either by heating the amorphous state (see chapter 3), or in the cooling process from the melt at a rate close to the critical. In the first case, the process of crystallization takes place under constant heat input (either at constant or continuously increasing temperature) and the additional effects of heat released during solidification. As a result, the system is characterised in most cases by the formation, at a specific stage of heat treatment, of a structure consisting of two distinctive structural components: amorphous and crystalline [1]. The nature of the structure in this case in particular depends on the rate of heating and cooling, annealing temperature and environment.
