Magnetic properties of liquid metal alloys

Abstract

The extensive field of the magnetic properties of (mainly) binary liquid metal alloys is reviewed. Special attention is paid to the behaviour of liquid transition metal AB alloys, both with A and B as transition elements and with B as a non-transition element. It is found that some of the main features can be understood without taking careful account of the liquid structure. However, the large charge transfer that then needs to be invoked is confronted with photoabsorption and with soft X-ray emission data. The simple explanation of the magnetism must almost certainly be transcended to account also for the optical behaviour.