Small-angle neutron scattering of alkali metals at moderate uniaxial pressure and low temperature
- Author(s)
- Maciej Krystian, Manfred Prem, Wolfgang Pichl, Gerhard Krexner
- Abstract
This paper reports on the development of a cryostat for neutron small-angle scattering experiments on alkali metals under uniaxial compression in a temperature range from 5 K to room temperature. The investigation was motivated by earlier observations of 'premartensitic' anomalies in metallic lithium and potassium which seem to suggest that nuclei of a low-temperature phase might be generated in the undercooled bcc structure either by cooling alone or by additional mechanical deformation. Cooling to 120 K in lithium and to 5 K in potassium, respectively, without applied load produced only very slight changes in the SANS patterns. However, after uniaxial compression of 3% at these temperatures anisotropic scattering patterns developed, suggesting the formation of small particles embedded in the bcc matrix whose orientation is related to the deformation direction. Π2005 IOP Publishing Ltd.
- Organisation(s)
- Physics of Functional Materials
- Pages
- 3173-3178
- No. of pages
- 6
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/17/40/021
- Publication date
- 2005
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103015 Condensed matter
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/smallangle-neutron-scattering-of-alkali-metals-at-moderate-uniaxial-pressure-and-low-temperature(433ca2d4-6fc8-4a57-8801-eb68b9ac2f53).html