Abstract
The phase relationships near the PrNi 5 composition at high temperatures (above 1000 °C) were determined. At 1000 °C a solid solution region, about 1 at.% wide, exists from PrNi 5.0 to PrNi 5.2. The electrical resistivity was measured for six alloys with compositions between PrNi 4.6 and PrNi 5.2 from room temperature to 4.2 K. Thermal cycling of the alloy leads to a resistance increase of 10%–20% over the initial room temperature value. Metallographic studies confirmed that this increase was due to crack formation upon cooling. The results obtained in this study suggest that PrNi 4.8 and PrNi 4.9 would be the best compositions of the six samples studied for use as a nuclear refrigerant to reach millikelvin temperatures.
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