Local lattice dynamics in the Mg 0.5Al 0.5B 2 superconductor

G. Campi, T. Proffen, X. Qiu, E. S. Bozin, S. J.L. Billinge, S. Agrestini, N. L. Saini, A. Bianconi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have studied temperature evolution of the local as well as the average crystal structure of MgB 2 and Mg 0.5Al 0.5B 2 using real-space atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measured by high resolution neutron powder diffraction in a wide temperature range of T=10-600 K. The mean square relative displacements (MSRD) of atomic B-B, B-Mg (B-Al) pairs are compared with mean-square displacements (MSD) to calculate atomic correlations. In spite of the enhanced atomic disorder in Mg 0.5Al 0.5B 2, where the boron-boron, and boron-magnesium pair motions are found to be small, we find that the same atomic correlations in MgB 2 assume even slightly lower values and remain nearly constant in a wide temperature range of 0-600 K. This anomalous behavior and its physical interpretation provoke new questions on our understanding to the local lattice dynamics in this material.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)505-510
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
Volume20
Issue number7-8
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • MgB
  • Neutron diffraction

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