Intermediate state of hexagonal close-packed structure to face-centered cubic structure transformation: Direct evidence for basal-type face-centered cubic phase via partial dislocation in zirconium

1.Introduction Zirconium(Zr)and its alloys show great applications in nuclear and chemical industry thanks to their appropriate mechanical properties,low thermal neutron absorption cross-section and excellent corrosion resistance[1–3].Zr displays three different crystal structures on the temperature-pressure phase diagram:the hexagonal close-packed structure(HCP,α-Zr),the body centered cubic structure(BCC,β-Zr)and the simple hexagonal structure(ω-Zr).