Modelling the statics and the dynamics of fluctuations in the ordering alloy AuAgZn₂

Abstract

The ordering alloy AuAgZn2 has a Heusser second-order transition at Tc ≃ 336.4°C. Static measurements of the critical scattering were carried out at the BM02 beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). These results are compared with Monte-Carlo simulations of the Ising model and show that the model with a simple interaction between two neighbouring atoms of the simple cubic Au/Ag lattice fully explains the X-ray diffuse scattering. Dynamic measurements obtained from X-ray scattering below Tc and the observation of X-ray photon correlations at the ESRF ID10 beamline are compared with dynamic simulations. It is shown that this system follows the predictions of “model A” [P.C. Hohenberg, B.I. Halperin, Rev. Mod. Phys. 49, 436 (1977)] for a transition with non-conserved order parameter. The dynamics of ordering with nearest neighbour exchange of atoms in the simple cubic lattice is shown to be equivalent to the usual Ising spin flip model, but with a different time scale. A comparison between the kinetics of ordering and the dynamics of the observed speckles arising from critical fluctuations shows some discrepancy suggesting the need for further experiments.