Enhancement of phase stability by manganese in Al60-xMnxCu40

Abstract

We present emerging structural and transport properties of amorphous Al60-xMnxCu40. We observed, in all structural data, a dominant peak in the structure factor S(K) at scattering vector Kpe ≃ 2kF in reciprocal space, with 2kF the diameter of the Fermi sphere which is related to local spherical structural periodicity of nearest-neighbor shells at medium-range distances in real space. The characteristic atomic distances between nearest neighbor shells are determined by the Friedel wavelength, half of the Fermi wavelength. We discussed the structural features, as caused by an optimized global resonances between the electronic and the static atomic structure, with subsequent consequences on structural stabilization and electronic transport. The global resonances are self-organizing by the exchange of characteristic momentum together with energy, trigger density anomalies and hybridization effects. We show strong indications for a combined action of density anomaly and hybridization. Within the homogeneous amorphous phase, higher the Manganese content, stronger is the hybridization with higher structural stability. Under global resonances both the electronic transport properties and thermal stability data are strongly correlated with the structural determination.