Measured and calculated thermoelastic properties of supersaturated fcc Ni(Al) and Ni(Zr) solid solutions

Metastable face-centered cubic (fcc) solid solutions of Ni_1–xAl_x and Ni_1–xZr_x have been prepared in thin-film form using dc planar magnetron sputtering in a UHV system. In both these alloy systems, extended solubilities in the fcc phase and a pronounced (111) texture are observed after sputter deposition. An amorphous phase is found to form in Ni_1–xAl_x for x ≥ 0.30 and in Ni_1–xZr_x for x ≥ 0.05. Lattice constants, thermal expansion coefficients, and Debye temperatures were derived from x-ray diffraction measurements. These parameters were also calculated by using ab initio methods in the framework of the local-spin density and coherent potential approximations for the electronic subsystem and the Debye–Grüneisen model for the vibrational properties of the nuclei subsystem. Experiment and theory are compared and discussed.