Neutron Diffraction Investigation of Liquid Alkali Metal—Gallium Alloys. Giant Cluster Formation?

Neutron diffraction experiments were performed on the liquid alloys NaGa, NaGa3, KGa3 and CsGa3. The structure factors of KGa3 and CsGa3 display prepeaks at small wavenumbers (0.64 and 0.61 (A) over circle -1, respectively). This may indicate the existence of extremely large aggregates of atoms in the liquid, which can not be associated with any of the crystal structures known for the solid counterparts of these alloys.