NASA NTRS2002
The first undercooling nucleation measurements of electrostatic-levitated droplets of TiZrNi alloys that form the icosahedral quasicrystal phase (i-phase) are presented. The reduced undercooling for crystallization decreases with an increasing polytetrahedral order of the primary solidifying phase, supporting the existence of a developing icosahedral short-range order in the undercooled liquid. X-ray diffraction measurements made at the Advance Photon Source on levitated liquid droplets of these alloys at their liquidus temperatures, however, show no evidence for increased icosahedral order. This suggests that significant ordering only occurs below the melting temperature.