X-ray diffraction intensities from single crystals of Au50.5Cd49.5 alloy ha
ve been measured at various temperatures above the martensitic transformati
on into zeta (2)' phase. With the CuK alpha radiation, the diffraction inte
nsities decrease sharply with decreasing temperature toward the transformat
ion temperature, while no such decrease is observed with MoK alpha radiatio
n. Those observations suggest precursor behavior occurring in surface regio
ns. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.