A Compton scattering study of an Al–Li disordered alloy single crystal Original Research Article

We report a measurement of the [111] Compton profile of a disordered Al–3at.%Li alloy single crystal at a high momentum resolution of 0.12 a.u., together with a corresponding highly accurate computation of the profile based on the Korringa–Kohn–Rostoker coherent-potential-approximation (KKR-CPA) scheme for treating disorder effects. In comparing the profiles and their first and second derivatives in Al–Li and Al, we find that the spectra in the alloy differ systematically from those of Al in qualitative accord with the theoretical predictions. This study shows clearly that the high-resolution Compton technique is capable of probing delicate changes in the fermiology and electron correlation and bonding effects upon alloying.