Comparative analysis of the short-range order in Al-Ge-Ni and Al-Ge-Fe melts.

The comparative analysis of structure in ternary Al-Ge-Fe and Al-Ge-Ni melts has been performed in a wide concentration range using results of X-ray diffraction experiment and RMC simulations. The analysis of total S(Q) and partial SGe-Ge(Q) structure factors has shown that germanium atoms are present in two structural states: in the local environment of Fe(Ni) atoms and as part of clusters with structure of liquid germanium. Formation of these clusters is a result of displacement of Ge atoms outside the nearest environment of Fe(Ni) atoms due to competition effect between Al and Ge atoms. It has been established that ratio between partial nearest neighbour distances R1(Al-Ni)<R1(Al-Fe)<R1(Ge-Ni)<R1(Ge-Fe) is valid for all investigated melts due to the energy non-equivalence of the interatomic interactions. The influence of an intensity of interatomic interactions (energy factor) and implementation of dense non-crystalline packing (packing factor) on the SRO in the investigated ternary melts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]