A transmission electron microscopy study of the β→α-phase transformation of tin

The β→α-phase transformation of pure tin has been studied using transmission electron microscopy. A preferred orientational relationship was found between the two phases, with the β[001] being parallel to the α[110]. The transformation front did not proceed into regions of foil below a critical thickness and this may have been the result of surface energy differences between the two phases. The general absence of a specific three-dimensional orientational relationship and observations regarding the nature of the interface suggest strongly that the transformation is massive in nature.