A transmission electron microscopy investigation of inverse melting in Nb45Cr55

Abstract

In inverse melting, a supersaturated crystalline phase transforms polymorphously under heat treatment to the amorphous state. Inverse melting of body-centered cubic (bcc) Nb45Cr55 is studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM (HRTEM). The crystalline to amorphous transformation is heterogeneous, initiating at the bcc grain boundaries. HRTEM reveals 2–3 nm domains with medium range order (MRO) in the amorphous phase. Preferred orientation of MRO domains is found on a scale corresponding to the precursor bcc grain size. Using HRTEM and calorimetry, MRO development in cosputtered Nb45Cr55 films is characterized and compared to that in the amorphous phase produced by inverse melting.