Elastic Constants of Magnesium from 4.2°K to 300°K

The adiabatic elastic constants of magnesium single crystals have been measured by an ultrasonic pulse technique. The values at 298^∘{}K are in good agreement with the recent values of Long and Smith. The values extrapolated to 0^∘{}K are c₁₁=0.635, c₃₃=0.664, c₄₄=0.1842, c₁₂=0.259, c₁₃=0.217 in units of 10¹² dynes/cm². A Debye characteristic temperature, θ, of 388±{}3^∘{}K has been calculated at 0^∘{}K by averaging the inverse cube of the longitudinal and transverse elastic wave velocities over all directions of propagation. Atomic force constants for a central-force model with an electron gas term are also obtained.