Metastable Defect Cluster Formation during Radiation-Induced Amorphization in NiTi

Chemical and topological disorderings in the NiTi intermetallic compound during electron irradiation were studied using a combination of in situ irradiation inside a high-resolution high-voltage electron microscope and image analyses of molecular-dynamics-simulated atom configurations. It was found that metastable defect clusters formed during the chemical-disordering phase prior to topological disordering leading to amorphization. These planar defect clusters contributed to the characteristic diffuse scattering were also observed in selected-area diffraction patterns.