Supersoft elastic parameters and low melting temperature of the C49 phase in TiSi2 by Brillouin scattering and molecular dynamics

Abstract

In this letter, we show that the polymorphic C49 form of TiSi2 has much smaller elastic constants than those of the C54 bulk-stable structure and that its melting temperature is about 300 °C lower. These issues supply intriguing hints in explaining the kinetic advantage of the C49 over the C54 phase and in understanding the role of the elastic energy in the phase transformation from C49 to C54.