The coexistence of two phases within a particle requires an interface with a significant capillary energy. We show that this entails changes in the nature of alloy phase equilibria at small size. Most notably, the eutectic points in alloy phase diagrams degenerate into intervals of composition where the alloy melts discontinuously.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0406477,
title = {Two-Phase Equilibrium in Small Alloy Particles},
author = {J. Weissmüller and P. Bunzel and G. Wilde},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0406477},
year = {2007}
}