Specific Features of the Atomic Structure of the Ti50Ni25Cu25 Alloy Amorphized during Rapid Quenching from a Melt

Abstract

This paper presents results of the structural study of the Ti₅₀Ni₂₅Cu₂₅ alloy formed under rapid quenching from a melt. The studies were performed using neutron and X-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. It has been revealed that this alloy has an amorphous nanocrystalline structure, which contains В2, L2₁, and L1₂ ensembles of nanocrystals with sizes to several nanometers in an amorphous matrix alongside with microspherolites, which have sustained the thermoelastic В2–В19 martensitic transition. It has also been shown for the first time that topological and compositional short-range atomic order is formed in the amorphous matrix of the Ti₅₀N₂₅Cu₂₅ alloy in the form of localized nanodomains by the same three types of superstructures (В2, L2₁, L1₂).