A neutron diffraction determination of short-range order in a Ni63.7Zr36.3glass

The total structure factors for amorphous Ni 63.7 Zr 36.3 have been obtained by neutron diffraction for three different isotropic compositions of nickel. The use of a zero alloy leads to a direct determination of the Bhatia-Thornton structure factor S CC . The high value of the determinant of the system produces accurate partial structure factors. From which partial pair correlation functions have been calculated. The behaviour of the partial functions and the deduced partial coordination numbers show the existence of strong chemical short-range order, the nature of which is discussed.