Structure formation in binary Al-TM (TM = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu) melts

The structures of binary Al-TM (transition metal TM = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu) melts at near-liquidus temperatures are studied by X-ray diffraction and simulation using the reverse Monte Carlo method. The melts are found to have chemical local atomic ordering, and this ordering depends on the nature and content of TM. Chemical local atomic ordering leads to a medium-range order as a result of TM atom localization at distances of 0.4–0.5 nm in the composition of polytetrahedral clusters having icosahedral symmetry. A medium-range order in the melts is identified due to the presence of an additional maximum (prepeak) in the left slope of the first peak in experimental structure factor curves. The local atomic orders in the melts and the corresponding crystalline and quasicrystalline phases are found to correlate with each other.