Experimental Study of the Lattice Dynamics of Disordered Vanadium Alloys

Abstract

We report on the investigation of the vibrational frequency spectrum of disordered alloys of vanadium consisting of ${\mathrm{Be}}_{0.033}$ ${\mathrm{V}}_{0.967}$ ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{0.05}$ ${\mathrm{V}}_{0.95}$, and ${\mathrm{Pt}}_{0.05}$ ${\mathrm{V}}_{0.95}$. Inelastic-neutron-scattering techniques were used to obtain information about the frequency spectrum of these alloys. The alloys were chosen because they scatter neutrons incoherently, and yet the solute atoms can differ widely from vanadium with respect to atomic mass and electron configuration. The disordered vibrational spectra show high-frequency impurity bands upon alloying with light-mass beryllium impurity atoms, large changes in the whole vibrational pattern caused by long-range interatomic potential differences arising from changes in the electronic properties of the nickel and platinum alloys, and most surprisingly, very small changes in the vibrational spectra upon alloying with heavy-mass platinum impurities.