Moiré fringes in nanoprecipitates in a zirconium alloy

Abstract Face-centered cubic (FCC) zirconium phase has been reported in as-cast and deformed zirconium and its alloys in recent years. The present study introduces germanium (Ge) containing FCC-Zr phase in an as-cast zirconium alloy. These precipitates were rod-like shaped and distributed in parallel, with 50-300 nm in length and 10-40 nm in width. The orientation relationship between these precipitates and the hexagonal close-packed (HCP) zirconium matrix was determined through TEM: 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0>HCP∥ FCC, {0001}HCP∥{1 1 ¯ 1}FCC. Parallel moire fringes were both observed viewed along [2 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0]HCP and [10 1 ¯ 0]HCP zone axis, and how the fringe spacing was related to the crystal plane spacing was discussed.