Electronic properties and localization effects in some hydrogen-doped 4d-3d metallic glasses

Abstract

Magnetoresistance and magnetic susceptibility data obtained on hydrogen-doped samples of ZrNi and ZrCu systems are reported. A mobile-stage sample container in conjunction with a 6 T superconducting coil was used to measure magnetoresistance at temperatures down to 1.7 K with a relative precision of 10⁻⁶. The temperature profile of the magnetic susceptibility was also measured down to 2 K by Faraday's method using a Cahn electrobalance combined with a conventional magnet. A precision range of 10⁻⁷ J T⁻² mol⁻¹ was maintained in this measurement. The samples were produced by the common melt-spinning method and were used in the as-obtained condition. Hydrogen strongly influences the quantum-mechanical interference at defects, considerably enhances the quasi-elastic electron scattering and depresses the relative contribution of the spin-orbit interaction. The Maki-Thompson interaction is likewise depressed with increasing hydrogen concentration. The results can be interpreted on the basis of current theoretical concepts based on weak localization in three-dimensional systems in the presence of strong spin-orbit interaction and superconducting fluctuations. The magnetic susceptibility data are interpreted in terms of the hydrogen influence on the electronic density of states at the Fermi level.