ordered and disordered structure

For example, in the high-temperature phase of Cu₃Au, Cu and Au randomly occupy the lattice points of the face-centered structure. In the low-temperature phase, Au occupies the position of origin and Cu occupies the three face-centered positions. In this manner, the "ordered and disordered structure" means that when the external condition (temperature) changes, the structure of a substance changes where the constituent atoms are arranged orderly or randomly. The order-disorder transformation occurs in not only alloys but also inorganic compounds. If an ordered structure is formed, diffraction spots specific to the structure appear.

Related Term(s)