Direct observation of concentration fluctuations in Au-Si eutectic liquid by small-angle neutron scattering

Sakaguchi, Yoshifumi*; Takata, Shinichi  ; Kawakita, Yukinobu  ; Fujimura, Yuki; Kondo, Keietsu  

It is well-known that eutectic gold-silicon (Au-Si) alloys exhibit anomalous melting point depression, which is more than 1000 C from the melting point of elemental Si (1414 C). The melting point depression in eutectic alloys is generally explained in terms of a decrease of the free energy by mixing. However, it is difficult to understand the anomalous melting point depression only from the stability of the homogeneous mixing. Some researchers suggest that there are concentration fluctuations in the liquids, where the atoms are inhomogeneously mixed. In this paper, we measure the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) of AuSi (eutectic composition) and AuSi (off-eutectic composition) at temperatures from room temperature to 900 C in both solid and liquid states to observe such concentration fluctuations directly.