First-principles study of the effect of iron on the crystal structure, stability and chemical bonding in the β-based AlCu ordered η₂-phase and the pretransition state of a solid solution

First-principles calculations showed that the thermodynamic stability of β-based ordered η2-AlCu phase doped with Fe is due to iron substitution in the copper sublattice (FeCu), which corresponds to the maximum number of Fe–Al bonds in the first cubic coordination polyhedron. This iron localisation leads to stable ω-like atomic displacements and pentagonal Al-nets in the (010) plane of η2-AlCu(Fe). This phase with iron substituting copper (e/a = 1.925) is an energetically preferred η-based non-canonical approximant of the icosahedral phase (e/a = 1.86). The energy gain for the FeCu position is determined by strong covalent Fe3d–Al3p bonding, while there is a weak Fe3d–Cu4s3d hybridisation for the FeAl substitution. Using a composite cluster model, we demonstrate that short-range order in the pretransition state of the β-Al–Cu–Fe solid solution observed prior to the precipitation of η-phase is stabilised due to formation of Fe–Al bonds in the first cubic coordination polyhedron of the composite cluster.