Precipitate microstructures play a critical role in determining the mechanical properties of many technologically important alloy systems ranging from Ni-based superalloys for aerospace applications to age-hardened Al-alloys for automobile applications.Depending on alloy composition, temperature, and annealing time, precipitates can exhibit a wide variety of shapes from spherical (e.g., delta-prime precipitates in Al-Li alloys), cuboidal (gamma-prime precipitates in Ni-base superalloys), to plate-, needle-, and rod-like in Al-alloys and lath-shaped in Mg-alloys.