Changes in the short-range order of gallium on melting and supercooling

Neutron diffraction has been used to study the diffuse scattering of gallium as it was heated from solid to liquid through the melting point, and then cooled from liquid to supercooled liquid. Little evidence was found of a pre-melting effect. A difference was observed in the rate of change of the diffuse scattering between the liquid and supercooled states from a slightly impure sample, but a high-purity sample showed little change in structure between +33 and . Reverse Monte Carlo analysis has been applied to the supercooled liquid, confirming that its structure is very like that of the -phase.