Low-Temperature Specific Heat of Face-Centered Cubic Ni-Co Alloys

Abstract

Low-temperature calorimetric measurements have been made on some fcc Ni-Co alloys. The observed variation of electronic-specific-heat coefficient with the average number of valence electrons per atom, ${n}_{e}$, for this system is in a remarkably good agreement with that for the Ni-Fe system in Ni-rich alloys over a significantly large ${n}_{e}$ range. Based on these measurements and the validity of the rigid-band model, an approximate shape of the $3d$ band is proposed for fcc alloys.