On the specific heat of Al-Si and Al-Ge alloys - A simulation study

The large variation in specific heats with concentration between temperatur es 50 K and 200 K for Al-Si and Al-Ge alloys are analysed in detail by latt ice dynamical and Monte Carlo approaches. The large deviation from linearit y at low temperatures does not seem to be due to the Debye's low temperatur e contribution. It is shown that an anharmonic vibration in the above solid solutions, particularly at 200 K, is the cause for the small variation in the specific heat.