Tracing the coupled atomic shear and shuffle for a cubic to a hexagonal crystal transition

Abstract

Tracing the rearranged atoms in the first-order phase transformation is unrealistic due to the discrete structure change. Here we report that, by tuning a nano-scale decomposition in a titanium alloy, the bcc crystal distorts successively toward the hcp crystal by keeping an orthorhombic symmetry. Thus, the shear-shuffle relationship is traced experimentally to enrich the well-known Burgers mechanism. Our results reveal also that the successive tuning on crystal structure at the atomic level leads to some novel properties which are unexpected from the discrete phase transformations.