MAGNETIC-SUSCEPTIBILITY AND ELECTRICAL-RESISTIVITY OF DILUTE LIQUID COPPER-IRON ALLOYS

Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements on dil ute liquid CuFe alloys are reported. Small additions of Fe increase th e resistivity of liquid Cu in a drastic manner, whereas the temperatur e coefficient is found to be decreased. Due to the localized magnetic moments of the impurity atoms the diamagnetism of Cu is converted into a strong temperature-dependent paramagnetism indicating about 3.5 unp aired d electrons per Fe atom. The electronic properties of CuFe resem ble those of liquid CuMn and AuFe which, in the solid state, are known for their Kondo-like behaviour. The experimental findings are tentati vely interpreted in terms of spin-disorder scattering with special emp hasis on the negative temperature coefficient of the impurity resistiv ity.