Electronic structure and electron transport properties amorphous MgNiLa and MgCuY alloys

Abstract

The electronic structure and electron transport properties of a total of 21 amorphous MgNiLa and MgCuY alloys have been studied through the measurements of the XPS valence band, the low-temperature specific heat, electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient and the thermoelectric power. The results are compared with those on amorphous AlNiX (X = Ti, Zr and La) alloys reported earlier. It is shown that the Fermi level sits in the La and Y d-band and that the density of states of E F decreases monotonically with increasing Mg content over the whole Mg concentration range. This is by sharp contrast with the situation in the AlNiX system where the electronic structure near E F switches from d- to sp-electron dominant states across 65 at.% Al. This difference in the electronic structure is shown to be reflected in the observed electron transport properties.