Non-crystalline Structure in Solidified Gold–Silicon Alloys

EXCEPT for thin films deposited at very low temperatures1, highly disordered arrangements of the atoms, similar to that of the liquid state, have never been observed in solid metals and alloys. For some metalloids, the bonding of which may actually be more covalent than metallic, such amorphous configurations have been retained in the solid state2 by cooling from the melt with sufficient celerity so as to prevent formation of the equilibrium crystalline structures.