Structure of liquid Li-Ga alloys

The authors have carried out neutron diffraction measurements for two Li-Ga samples: Li0.50Ga0.50 at 750 degrees C and Li0.77Ga0.23 at 475 degrees C. The Li-Ga system is an example of a system forming ionic alloys. The temperatures were chosen to be slightly above the respective melting points. The composition of the latter sample is not only close to that at which a maximum in the resistivity is observed, it corresponds also to the 'zero-alloy' composition. For both samples evidence for chemical short-range order is found while for the equiatomic composition evidence is obtained that the arrangement of atoms in the first coordination shell as observed in the solid state is preserved upon melting. A simple model using the mean spherical approximation yields structure factors that are in satisfactory agreement with the measured ones.