X-ray spectral and diffraction studies of germanides of iron-group metals in the amorphous and crystalline states

This article examines results of x-ray emission spectroscopy and x-ray diffractometry of amorphous and crystalline layers of certain germanides of iron-group transition metals. Combined analysis of the K- and L-bands of Me and Ge in Me2 (Fe, Co, Ni)Ge and data from model interpretation of radial distribution functions of atoms in amorphous layers are used to make conclusions on the character of the chemical bond and the structure of the short-range order in the materials studied. It was established that there is no significant change in the character of the chemical bond in germanides Me2(Fe, Co, Ni)Ge in the transition from the crystalline to the amorphous state. It was also found that short-range order in the investigated amorphous layers can be described by a complex “poly-structural” atom distribution, i.e. it is characterized by a complex, microscopically nonuniform model of the type Me2Ge+Me.