Short-range order in undercooled metallic liquids

The containerless processing technique of electromagnetic levitation was combined with elastic neutron scattering in order to study the short-range order (SRO) of stable and deeply undercooled liquids of the pure elements Ni, Fe and Zr and of the quasicrystal-forming alloy Al65Cu25 Co-10. The results deliver experimental evidence for an icosahedral short-range order (ISRO) prevailing in the investigated metallic melts. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.