CALCULATION OF ELECTROMIGRATION FORCES AND RESISTIVITIES FOR LIQUID BINARY-ALLOYS

The linear response theory of electromigration as proposed by Kumar and Sorbello (1975) and developed by Schaich (1976) is applied to a number of binary alloys. The authors have compared detailed model-potential calculations with experiment for the systems Pb-Bi, Sn-Pb, Na-K and Na-Rb. For the polyvalent systems the comparison is reasonably favourable but for the others the formulation in terms of model potentials appears to fail because the d wave scattering from K and Rb ions is not described correctly. In contrast, phase shift calculations appear to yield a correct semiquantitative description. The success of Ashcroft and Langreth in calculating the resistivity of Na-K using simple model potentials thus appears, at least in part, to be a consequence of the number of freely variable parameters in their theory, rather than of a correct description of the basic physics.