Neutron diffraction study of Fe83B17 metallic glass

The structure factorS(Q) was measured up to high momentum transfer,_max720 nm^–1 for Fe₈₃B₁₇ metallic glass sample. A ribbon sample was prepared by rapid quenching of the melt. In the alloy boron enriched with¹¹B isotope was used. The scattering neutron spectra were measured by the time-of-flight method at the IBR-30 facility of JINR in Dubna. The scattering angles of 30°, 60° and 150° were chosen to cover the scattering vector,Q, from 10nm^–1 up to 720nm^–1. The scattered spectra of vanadium were measured for the detector efficiency determination and those of molybdenum for the calibration. The reduced pair distribution functionG(r) was obtained using the Fourier transform ofS(Q). The atomic distances and the partial coordination numbers were calculated. It was found that the fluctuation of the Fe-B distance is larger than that of the Fe-Fe atomic pair. The chemical short-range parameter is equal to 44% of the maximum possible value.Dedicated to the memory of M. Gmitro.The sample of amorphous metallic material was kindly prepared by Dr. P. Duhaj. We would like to thank Dr. P. vec for microscoping our sample and for stimulating discussions.