Low-temperature specific heat study of Ni85.5PxB18.5?x (0 ? x ? 18.5) metallic glasses

The low-temperature specific heat (LTSH) of the melt-quenched Ni_81.5P_x^- B_18.5?x amorphous alloy system, with 0 ? x ? 18.5, is presented. The decomposition of the LTSH into magnetic, lattice and electronic contributions shows that both Debye temperature θ_D and electronic specific heat coefficient decrease when the concentration of P increases.The electronic density of states N(E_F), deduced from γ for various Ni-metalloid alloys, is plotted as a function of the average electronic concentration xZ^M, where x is the metalloid concentration and Z^M is the chemical valence of M. Following Malozemoff et al.'s work, this plot is considered as a representation of the band structure and yields the change of the Fermi level with alloying.