The fracture behavior of B2 structured MgR intermetallics

Recent discovery of ductile B2 intermetallics containing a rare earth (R) element and a transition or simple metal (M) raises questions regarding their fracture behavior. We have compared archetypal cases with some MgR compounds, which tend to exhibit brittle cleavage on {1 0 0} cleavage planes, with the exception of MgCe which cleaves on {1 1 1} planes.