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A comparison between the structures of amorphous and liquid Ag–Cu and Cu–Mg alloys
Author(s) -
Lukens W. E.,
Wagner C. N. J.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889876010790
Subject(s) - amorphous solid , liquid nitrogen , liquidus , materials science , amorphous metal , analytical chemistry (journal) , evaporation , atmospheric temperature range , crystallography , alloy , metallurgy , chemistry , thermodynamics , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics
Amorphous films of AgCu and CuMg 2 , approximately 3000 Å in thickness, were prepared by co‐evaporation of Ag and Cu, and Cu and Mg, respectively, onto 25 μm thick Be sheets, held at liquid nitrogen temperature. Mo K α X‐rays were used as a radiation probe to determine the structure of the films, at room temperature, and of the liquid alloys of Cu with 50 at.% Ag and with 0 and 67 at.% Mg at 50°C above the liquidus temperature. With the transmission technique, the interference functions (or structure factors) I ( K ) were determined in the range of K = 4π sin θ/λ between 0.8 Å −1 and 12.5 Å −1 , and then Fourier transformed to obtain the radial distribution functions (RDF). The I ( K ) and RDF of the amorphous AgCu and CuMg 2 films were compared with those of the liquid Ag–Cu and Cu–Mg alloys, respectively. It was found that the structures of the amorphous and liquid Ag–Cu alloys were similar with a more well defined short‐range order occurring in the solid alloys, whose I ( K ) exhibited the well known shoulder on the second peak. The I ( K ) and RDF of the amorphous CuMg 2 and the liquid Cu–Mg alloys cannot be explained by a common structure, although I ( K ) showed a small premaximum below the first main peak in both the amorphous and liquid alloys, a feature observed in many liquid Mg alloys.