Neutron-diffraction investigation of structural changes during inverse melting ofTi45Cr55s

The inverse-melted amorphous phase of ${\mathrm{Ti}}_{45}$ ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{55}$, as well as the precursor bcc phase has been investigated using neutron scattering. An increase in chemical short-range order (CSRO), which involves primarily a differentiation of Ti and Cr sites in the alloy is detected, in line with expectations based on a decrease in the entropy which accompanies the crystalline to amorphous (c-to-a) transformation. The CSRO in the amorphous phase shows a weak preference for unlike neighbor pairs. The neutron data indicate that similarities exist between the local structure of the inverse melted amorphous phase and the ${\mathrm{TiCr}}_2$ Laves compound. These similarities are indicative of topological medium-range order (MRO) in the amorphous phase which resembles that of the Laves compound.