Incommensurate strain-induced ordering of interstitial oxygen in Nb

J Phys Condens Matter. 2008 Jul 9;20(27):275206. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/20/27/275206. Epub 2008 Jun 3.

Abstract

We present a semi-phenomenological theory of the strain-induced interaction between interstitial oxygen dissolved in Nb and predict an incommensurate oxygen ordering wave which is mediated by the intrinsic bcc instability at k = 2/3(111). We discuss the stability range of this ordering phenomenon, which may play a role in the performance of Nb radio frequency (RF) cavities for high energy particle accelerators.