Structure and formation of the metastable phasem-TiBe

The metastable ordered phasem-TiBe was discovered in the course of studying liquidquenched Ti-Be and Ti-Be-Zr alloys. m-TiBe forms, together with the α-Ti solid solution, on heating binary (and ternary) metallic glasses to 700°C and is also observed directly in as-quenched alloys lying outside the composition limits for glass formation. This phase has a B2 (CsCl-type) crystal structure. Its existence can be justified in terms of crystal chemical factors leading to the conclusion that TiBe most likely does not appear as an equilibrium phase in normally cooled alloys due to the greater stability of the Laves phase TiBe₂.