Surface structural transitions on Al3Pd

A transition from the high-temperature body-centered cubic to the low-temperature triclinic structure at the surface of crystalline Al3Pd has been observed with secondary-electron imaging. The constant transition temperature over a wide range of heating and cooling rates and the constant chemical composition suggest that this is a martensitic transformation. An atomic model is proposed to explain the structural changes that occur across the transition. {[}S0163-1829(99)00412-9].