Domains in Ordered Titanium Monoxide
Structures of titanium monoxide TiOy at different nonstoichiometric ratios and degrees of ordering are studied via X-ray diffraction and electron and optical microscopy. It is shown that the microstructure of substoichiometric, stoichiometric, and superstoichiometric TiOy is determined by the presence of different ordered phases that form and grow in the matrix of the high-temperature phase with cubic structure. Study of the microhardness of TiOy shows that it depends on both the stoichiometry and the degree of ordering, and changes from 990 to 1400 kg/mm2. It is found that the microhardness of ordered titanium monoxide is greater than that of the disordered variant, due to the formation of domains of ordered phases.