Electrical Resistivity of Chromium–Gold Alloys between 77 and 700 K

Electrical resistivity is measured as a function of temperature of binary chromium alloys containing 0.27, 0.54, and 0.60 at% gold. Gold decreases the Néel temperature linearly at a rate of 32 K/at% gold. Such a decrease is contrary to the predictions of conventional models for the antiferromagnetism in dilute chromium alloys, but can be explained if the excess nuclear charge on gold impurities is totally screened by the band electrons. Total screening also is consistent with the observed temperature variation of resistivity well above the transition temperature if, as seems reasonable, the scattering of electrons from gold impurities reduces the electronic density of states of the alloy at the Fermi energy.