AN X-RAY-DIFFRACTION STUDY ON AMORPHOUS TRANSITION METAL-BORON ALLOYS OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT PREPARATION METHODS

The metal-metal structure of amorphous metal-boron alloys prepared by melt spinning, chemical reduction and mechanical alloying is compared. The general features of the structure functions and radial distribution functions obtained from X-ray diffraction data are similar. The first peak of the radial distribution function, mainly due to metal-metal nearest neighbours, has been simulated by a peak shape function. In all the investigated samples the best fit was obtained using two slightly different metal-metal distances, which suggests the presence of an asymmetric distribution.