A Tem Study of Inverse Melting in Nb45Cr55

Abstract

ABSTRACTInverse melting of bcc Nb4sCr55 is investigated using transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution TEM and electron diffraction. It is shown that the transformation to the amorphous phase initiates at the bcc grain boundaries. The transformation results in an increase in incoherence, evidenced by a loss of bend contours. Some anisotropy is found in the amorphous phase produced by inverse melting, which is associated in HRTEM with preferentially oriented but discontinuous and distorted fringes. The results are consistent with the production of an amorphous phase by inverse melting.