On the universality of Suzuki segregation in binary Mg alloys from first principles

• We demonstrate that the attractive Suzuki segregation is not a universal phenomenon.
• Not all segregated solutes need to overcome energy barriers to reach the stacking fault regions.
• These findings advance our understanding on the interactions between point and extended defects.
• Our results would be useful for stacking fault engineering.

It has been often believed that substitutional solute atoms undergo preferential segregation to stacking faults (Suzuki effect). Here, density functional theory calculations reveal a rather diverse spatial distribution of the alloying atoms with respect to faults in binary Mg alloys. Interestingly, while some solutes encounter energy barriers when approaching faults, there is almost no barrier for Al and Sn. These findings advance our understanding concerning the interaction between solutes and extended defects, and provide guidance for stacking fault engineering in Mg alloys.