Low-temperature specific heat and soft X-ray spectroscopic studies of Ni33Zr67-based metallic glasses containing H, B, Al and Si

Abstract

Low-temperature specific heats and soft X-ray emission spectra were measured on a large number of Ni33Zr67Hx and (Ni33Zr67)1-xXx (X=B, Al, or Si) ternary metallic glasses in order to study the change in electronic structure caused by the introduction of elements H, B, Al or Si. The density of states at EF and the superconducting transition temperature, derived from the specific heat data, are found to exhibit unique features as a function of the composition of the third element. The soft-X-ray emission measurements revealed that the H, B and Si atoms form preferential bonding states with Zr atoms at different binding energies, whereas Al atoms form bonding states equally with Zr and Ni atoms. The authors conclude that the bonding states formed between the third element and the host elements are specific to each alloy system and that this is responsible for the unique behaviour of the low-temperature specific heat data.