Synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies of the α⇌β structural phase transition in Sn and Sn-Cu. (1st July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mazumdar, A.; Thamizhavel, A.; Nanal, V.; Pillay, R.G.; Upadhyay, A.; Vatsa, V.; Reza, A.; Shrivastava, A.; Chalke, Bhagyashree; Mallikarjunachary, S.
• Is Part Of: Scripta materialia. Number 199(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-01
• Subjects: tin pest -- polymorphic phase transformation -- scanning electron microscopy (SEM) -- synchrotron radiation -- X-ray diffraction (XRD); Materials -- Periodicals; Metallurgy -- Periodicals; Metalen; Legeringen; Materiaalkunde; Metals, metalworking and machinery industries; Metals; Electronic journals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2021.113858
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-6462

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Abstract: The transformation between the metallic ( β ) and semiconducting ( α ) allotropes of tin is still not well understood. The phase transition temperature stated in the literature, 286.2 K, seems to be inconsistent with recent calorimetric measurements. In this paper, this intriguing aspect has been explored in Sn and Sn-Cu (alloyed 0.5% Cu by weight) using temperature resolved synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements performed at the Indus-2 facility. Additionally, the α ⇌ β Sn transition has been recorded using in-situ heating/cooling experiments in a scanning electron microscope. Based on these measurements, a protocol has been suggested to reduce the formation of α -Sn in potentially susceptible systems. This will be useful in experiments like TIN.TIN (The INdia-based TIN detector), which proposes to employ ∼ 100 - 1000 kg of superconducting tin-based detectors to search for neutrinoless double beta decay in the isotope 124 Sn .