Structure of bulk amorphous Pd-Ni-P alloys determined by synchrotron radiation

The atomic structure of Pd-Ni-P bulk amorphous alloys was studied by the anomalous (resonance) X-ray scattering technique using synchrotron radiation tuned near the Pd K-edge. Bulk samples of Pd40Ni40P20, Pd30Ni50P20, and Pd50Ni34P16 amorphous alloys were prepared by the flux method in the form of rods. The results show that the structure of these alloys can be described basically by the dense random packed structure with small chemical short-range order. It is suggested that the exceptional stability of these glasses originates mainly from the instability of the competing crystalline phases rather than the atomic ordering in these glasses.