Undercooling of Pure Cu and Ge Melts in a Static Magnetic Field

Abstract

The glass fluxing technique was used to undercool melts of pure Cu and Ge in the presence of a static magnetic field generated by a superconducting magnet. It was found that the mean undercooling of liquid Cu increased with increasing magnetic field, whereas the mean undercooling of liquid Ge did not show any significant changes with increasing magnetic field. Such a difference in the undercooling behavior can be related to the Lorentz force imposed by the magnetic field, which was larger for liquid Cu because of a larger electrical conductivity than that of liquid Ge.