Measurements have been made of relative marker movements in Au and Cu in the presence of temperature gradients of the order of 1200°K/cm. These experiments yielded results which indicate that a net vacancy current is established in these metals under appropriate experimental conditions. The magnitude and direction of the observed effects are consistent with kinetic theory predictions in conjunction with previously determined vacancy energies. A three-dimensional extension of existing kinetic theory is developed and important factors which do not appear in one-dimensional treatments are discussed. Porosity development in Cu was found under certain conditions and this may be a visual demonstration of the existence of a thermal diffusion effect in Cu.
The existence of magnetic transitions in alloys of Fe in Au and Cu has been shown by using the Mössbauer effect. There is a significant difference in the internal-field distribution (and hence alignment of the atomic spins) between the Cu and the Au alloys. In the former a continuous distribution exists, whereas, in the latter a unique (or very nearly unique) internal field occurs in the dilute alloys. The results for the Cu alloys are consistent with an indirect interaction of the Ruderman-Kittel-Yosida type of spins localized at the iron atoms. The internal-field distribution appears to develop a minimum at zero field and a rather broad maximum which shifts gradually to higher fields with decreasing temperature. The nearly unique internal field in the dilute Au-Fe alloys seems to exclude an explanation on the basis of a Ruderman-Kittel-Yosida exchange interaction. A spiral static spin density wave as the mechanism for antiferromagnetically ordering the localized spins (or ferromagnetic order for the case in which the spin density wave vector is zero) seems possible. More concentrated Au-Fe (>16 at. % Fe) alloys show a much more rapid increase in the magnetic transition temperature than the more dilute alloys. Their behavior is ferromagnetic and can be described quite well with a nearest-neighbor interaction using the average coordination number method suggested by Sato, Arrott, and Kikuchi. The appropriate nearest-neighbor exchange interaction energy is J≃2.9×10−2 eV.
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