HREM study of phase transformation induced by ion irradiation in Al-Cu-Co-Ge single decagonal quasicrystal

Abstract

Irradiation-induced phase transformation in crystals has been an interesting research field for the past twenty years. Since the discovery of quasicrystals in Al-based alloys, there have been some reports on irradiation-induced phase transformation in quasicrystals by in situ TEM observations. However, detailed study on phase transformation in quasicrystals under ion irradiation at atomic level using HREM is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the process. In this paper, we report the results from a systematic HREM study on phase transformation induced by ion irradiation in Al-Cu-Co-Ge single decagonal quasicrystal (31.4 wt.% Cu, 21.8 wt.% Co and 5.4 wt.% Ge).The TEM specimens of single decagonal quasicrystal were prepared perpendicular to the tenfold axis. The transformation in single quasicrystal was studied by in situ TEM during 1.5 MeV Xe+ ion irradiation at room temperature using the HVEM-Tandem Facility at Argon National Laboratory and examined in detail by HREM using a JEM2010 microscope at the University of New Mexico after the irradiation.