Characteristic energy losses of electrons in alloys

Abstract

Characteristic energy losses of electrons in alloys of Mg-Al and of Al-Cu have been investigated. Electrons of about 10 kev were transmitted through thin films of the alloys. The energy spectra of the transmitted electrons were registered with a spectrometer of high resolving power. The measurements of the losses in Al-Cu alloys were correlated with the composition of the alloy films determined by chemical microanalysis. It was shown that the spectra of the alloys cannot be explained by the assumption of a simple superposition or combination of the spectra of the component metals. The suggestion is put forward that the spectra of the alloys are a superposition of the spectra corresponding to various phases of the alloy. This suggestion has been checked in detail for a whole range of Al-Cu alloys. In the case of Mg-Al alloys no definite conclusions could be drawn from the experimental results owing to the strong oxidation of the thin films of this alloy.