Stress-Induced Martensitic Transformation of Zr50Cu25Ni10Co15 Nanocrystals Embedded in an Amorphous Matrix

The stress induced martensitic phase transformation of spherical ZrCu nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix was studied in this paper. Microstructural observations revealed that the martensitic transformation of the nanocrystal was hindered by the surrounding amorphous coating. The existence of two-step transformation from the austenite phase (B2) to the base structure martensite (B19') and finally to the most stable superstructure martensite (Cm) was also demonstrated. The Cm martensite with (021) type I twinning symmetrically accommodation was surrounded by the B19' martensite with dislocation morphologies.