Soft X-Ray Emission Study of Chemical Bonding in Fe- and Ni-Metalloid Alloy Glasses

Abstract

The electronic structures of transition metal (Fe, Ni)-metalloid (B, Si, P) alloy glasses are investigated by soft X-ray spectroscopy. In Fe-based alloy glasses a single peak is commonly observed at 4∼6 eV below the emission edges of the B K_α, Si K_β and P K_β spectra, while a weak hump is seen at the bottom of the main peak of the Fe L_α spectrum. Similar data are obtained for Ni-based alloy glasses. These results are consistent with recent band calculations on amorphous Fe–B and Fe–P alloys by Fujiwara, and can be explained in terms of bonding-antibonding splittings of the metalloid p bands hybridizing with the transition metal d bands. It is concluded that chemical bonding among the constituent atoms contributes to the stabilization of these metallic glasses.