Structural investigation of Pd76B24 glassy alloy. Local order parameters from a semi-empirical mathematical model

The PCF of Pd76B24 glassy alloy was approximated as a sum of analytical expressions each pertaining to a discrete contribution of distances, a further term accounting for the structureless range. The analysis brought to the light the presence of a large spread of pseudo-square distances near r1√2, characteristic of the octahedral coordination, overshadowed in the experimental behavior. A topological distribution close to the trigonal prism capped with three half octahedral appears a sound structural basis for the amorphous arrangement, in spite of its possible evaluation within the conceptual framework of a dense binary mixture of randomly packed hard spheres.