Magnetic Susceptibility and Electronic Structure in Metallic and Nonmetallic Liquid Cesium‐Gold and Cesium‐Antimony Alloys

Measurements of the concentration and temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility K of liquid CsAu and CsSb alloys are reported. At the stoichiometric compositions CsAu and Cs3Sb, respectively, K exhibits a pronounced diamagnetic minimum of ‐81 · 10−6 emu · mol−1 for CsAu and ‐ 85 · 10−6 emu · mol−1 for Cs3Sb. It is shown that magnetic susceptibility provides a good means for the study of chemical bonding and electronic structure in these liquids. In the nonmetallic electrical transport regime the data are discussed in terms of various models for the electronic structure of metal atoms dissolved in a more ionic or more semiconducting liquid alloy. In the case of CsAu alloys a complete description of the change of the nature of electronic states from nonmetallic to metallic behaviour can be deduced from the measured K‐values. The temperature dependence of K for CsSb alloys near the composition Cs3Sb gives indication for a transport mechanism typical of liquid semiconductors.