Short Range Structure of Amorphous Ni50Ta50-Alloys by Means of X-Ray- and Neutron-Diffraction
Abstract Amorphous Ni50Ta50-samples with their high crystallization temperature of 985 K were investigated. To evaluate the three partial structure factors of amorphous Ni50Ta50 one X-ray diffraction experiment was performed with Ni50Ta50 and two neutron diffraction experiments with Co10Ni40Ta50 and with Ni50Ta50, respectively. The Bhatia-Thornton partial structure factor SCC(Q) indicates rather strong chemical short range order which also explains the premaximum observed in the Faber-Ziman partial SNiNi(Q)-function. The nearest neighbor distance is 2.82 Å for Ni-Ni, 2.91 Å for Ta-Ta, and is shortest for Ni-Ta, 2.44 Å. The coordination numbers are NNiNi = 4.9, NTaTa = 8.2, and NNiTa = 6.0. We report on the chemical short range order and the possible binding behavior in a-Ni50Ta50 and compare the present results with those reported in the literature on a-Ni40Ti60 as well as on a-Ni55Ta45