Structural phase transitions in Pd_0.8 Si_0.2 and Pd_0.75 Si_0.20 Ag_0.05 alloys observed by pac

Abstract

The phase transition in the alloys Pd_0.8 Si_0.2 and Pd_0.75 Si_0.20 Ag_0.05 have been investigated through the quadrupole interaction of¹¹¹Cd impurities. The quadrupole interactions were measured by means of the TDPAC technique from room temperature up to about 870 K. The variation of the quadrupole interaction with temperature in the alloy PdSiAg shows aT ^3/2 dependence below and above 629 K, with coefficientsB=5.43(25)·10⁻⁵ K^−3/2 andB=3.70(15)·10⁻⁵ K^−3/2, respectively. This demonstrates that the alloy undergoes a phase transition around 629 K. The existence of two electric field gradients observed in the alloy PdSi,V _zz (1)=3.47(54)·10¹⁷ V/cm² andV _zz (2)=2.29(36)·10¹⁷ V/cm², indicates that there are two different¹¹¹Cd sites. The corresponding fractionsf ₁ andf ₂ strongly depend on temperature. Below 520 K, most¹¹¹Cd nuclei are subject to the higher EFGV _zz (1) (f ₁≈70%), whereas above 520 Kf ₁ falls rapidly to zero andV _zz (2) becomes dominant. The temperature dependences of thef ₁ andf ₂ reveal a picture of the phase transition between the two crystal structures.