Short-range order in FeV alloys as investigated by neutron scattering and NMR at⁵¹V nuclei

Abstract

The authors have obtained detailed information on the short-range order (SRO) in Fe1-cVc alloys over a large range of concentrations (1<or=c<or=20 at.% V) using neutron diffuse scattering and zero field NMR on the 51V nuclei. The theoretical and experimental limitations of these complementary techniques are discussed. In the dilute limit (c<or=3 at.%) NMR is more sensitive than neutron scattering in determining the SRO parameters alpha i whereas beyond a few per cent, neutron scattering is more suitable and gives access to a larger number of alpha i values. Over the whole range of concentration and temperature investigated, the observed behaviour corresponds to strong repulsive interactions between first or second nearest-neighbour vanadium atom pairs.