The influence of easy direction of magnetisation on 59Co NMR spectrum in R2(Co1−xMnx)17 compounds

The spin echo NMR spectra of ⁵⁹Co in R₂(Co_1-xMn_x)₁₇, (R = Y, Gd) measured at 4.2 K are reported. The large shift of resonance lines is observed, that is explained as caused by reorientation of easy axis of magnetisation from easy plane to easy direction (c axis). It is suggested to explain quantitatively the spectra, that only two of four Co sites (9d and 18f) in R₂Co₁₇ structure play a dominant role in determining of anisotropy energy and the Co atoms at the 6c sites (“dumb-bell” atoms) give no direct contribution to the anisotropy energy of the compound. The corresponding changes of local anisotropy energy and the orbital part of cobalt magnetic moment characteristic for each of cobalt structural sites are calculated and discussed.     

Crystal field effect on the magnetic moment's direction of rare earth ions with low point symmetry in r4co3 (r = Tb, Ho, Dy, Er, Tm) compounds

Neutron diffraction measurements, made on powder samples, show that Ho₄Co₃ and Er₄Co₃ intermetallic compounds are ferrimagnetic at 4.2 K. The magnetic moments of the 2 holmium sites are 8.7 and 2.1 μ_B and those of the erbium sites are equal to 8.7 and 8.1μ_B. The cobal⁺ magnetic moment is 0.2μ_B for both compounds. The easy magnetization direction lies on the hexagonal plane for Ho₄Co₃ while for Er₄Co₃ there are 2 anisotropy directions. Exchange interactions between rare-earth ions of both sites are very weak compared with the total crystal field splitting of the ground state multiplet J. The crystal field parameters are calculated and the magnitude and direction of the rare-earth magnetic moments in each site is determined.     

Magnetic structure and preferential occupation of Fe in the composite compound Nd2Co6Fe

The crystal and magnetic structures of the composite compound Nd₂Co₆Fe have been investigated by high-resolution neutron powder diffraction and X-ray powder diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the hexagonal Ce₂Ni₇-type structure consisting of Nd(Co,Fe)₂ and Nd(Co,Fe)₅ structural blocks alternately stacked along the c-axis. Multi-pattern Rietveld refinement of neutron diffraction and X-ray diffraction data at room temperature reveal that substitution of Fe for Co occurs exclusively in the Nd(Co,Fe)₅ structural blocks. The preferential occupation of the Fe atoms in the structure is discussed based on the mixing enthalpy between Nd and Fe atoms and on the lattice distortions. In agreement with the reported magnetic phase diagram of the Nd₂Co_7−xFe_x compounds, magnetic structure models with the moments of all atoms in the ab plane at 300 K and along the c-axis at 450 K provide a satisfactory fitting to the experimental neutron diffraction data. The refinement results show that the atomic moments of (Co,Fe) atoms within the Nd(Co,Fe)₅ blocks decrease slightly with temperature, whereas the atomic moments of Nd in the compound and of (Co,Fe) atoms at the interface between the Nd(Co,Fe)₂ and Nd(Co,Fe)₅ blocks are reduced significantly.     

Effect of Cr on the electronic structure of Co3Al intermetallic compound: A first-principles study

The effect of doping with Cr on the electronic structure and magnetism of Co₃Al has been studied by density functional calculations. It has been found that the Cr atom has a strong site preference for the B-site in Co₃Al. With the substitution of Cr for Co, the total densities of states (DOS) change obviously: A DOS peak appears at E_F in the majority spin states and an energy gap is opened in the minority spin states. The effect of Cr in Co₃Al is mainly to push the antibonding peak of the Co (A,C) atoms high on the energy scale and to form the energy gap around E_F, and also to contribute to the large DOS peak at E_F in the majority spin direction. The calculations indicate a ferromagnetic alignment between the Co and Cr spin moments. The calculated total magnetic moment decreases and becomes closer to the Slater–Pauling curve with increasing Cr content. This is mainly due to the decrease of the Co (A,C) spin moments. At the same time, the moments of Co (B) and Cr (B) only change slightly.     

Cluster spin glass ordering in diluted spinel Zn0.5Co0.5FeCrO4

The disordered spinel system, Zn_0.5Co_0.5FeCrO₄ has been investigated using the low field magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements. From the present results it appears that this system orders into a cluster spin glass state with the magnetic moments of the ferrimagnetic clusters randomly frozen. Compared to the Ni and Co zinc ferrites with the same magnetic dilution, introduction of Cr into the B sites appears to increase the frustration and disorder dramatically. The predicted phase diagrams for the ordering in diluted magnetic spinels do not describe the magnetic behaviour of this system, presumably due to the disorder in the B sublattice in addition to the dilution in the A sublattice.     

Cation distribution in the spinels CoxFe3−xO4

Mössbauer spectra of four spinels having the general formulae Co_xFe_3?xO₄ and x ~ 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 have been obtained at liquid helium temperature and in a large transverse magnetic field. Intensity data have been used to determine the distribution of iron ions between octahedral and tetrahedral sites. The results are examined on the basis of two models. For one there is a competition between the Fe³⁺ ions and the cobalt ions for the two sites; while for the other there is a competition between Fe³⁺ ions and Co²⁺ ions for the two sites. The relative merits of these two extreme models are discussed.     

Y(Mn1-xCox)12磁结构的中子衍射分析

在研究Y(Mn_1-xCo_x)₁₂晶体结构的基础上,为了分析这种化合物的磁结构,我们挑选了不同成分的试样,在液氮温度下作了中子衍射测量。实验上测到的磁有序超结构峰可以用YMn₁₂单胞指标化为h十k+l=2n+1。使用各种可能的磁结构模型对数据进行了分析,根据计算强度与观测强度的最佳拟合,得出了Y(Mn_1-xCo_x)₁₂的磁结构随x变化的某些结论。 关键词：     

Magnetic and structural characteristics of the R3Ni7B2 compounds (R = rare earth)

Magnetic and structural behaviour and phase relationships of materials of composition R₃Ni₇B₂ (R = Nd-Lu) were investigated. Detailed X-ray analysis yields that two hexagonal structures are encountered. For the heavy rare earth (Gd-Lu) the compounds crystallize in the CeNi₃ structure. The space group is P6₃/mmc and each unit cell contains two formula units. The R₃Ni₇B₂ where R = Nd-Sm (including Yb₃Ni₇B₂) crystallize in the CeCo₄B structure. The space group is P6/mmm and each unit cell contains one formula unit. The detailed crystal structures are discussed. The magnetic measurements show that Yb₃Ni₇B₂ and Lu₃Ni₇B₂ are Pauli paramagnetic. Sm₃Ni₇B₂ is ferromagnetically ordered with a huge intrinsic magnetic hardness. The magnetization at the coercive field at low temperatures is extremely time dependent. The R₃Ni₇B₂ which crystallize in CeNi₃ structure are antiferromagnetic at low temperatures. All Mossbauer and magnetization experimental results can be explained assuming an antiferromagnetic exchange interaction in both 2(c) and 4(f) crystallographic sites and a ferromagnetic interaction between these sites.     

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of metallic antiferromagnetic Co[(CH3PO3)(H2O)] studied by first-principles calculations

The electronic structure, the metallic and magnetic properties of metal phosphonate Co[(CH₃PO₃)(H₂O)] have been studied by first-principles calculations, which were based on the density-functional theory (DFT) and the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. The total energy, the spin magnetic moments and the density of the states (DOS) were all calculated. The calculations reveal that the compound Co[(CH₃PO₃)(H₂O)] has a stable metallic antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state and a half-metallic ferromagnetic (FM) metastable state. Based on the spin distribution obtained from calculations, it is found that the spin magnetic moment of the compound is mainly from the Co²⁺, with some small contributions from the oxygen, carbon and phosphorus atoms, and the spin magnetic moment per molecule is 5.000μ_B, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Magnetic properties of R3Rh2 compounds with R=Gd, Tb,Dy, Ho and Er

Bulk magnetic measurements performed on polycrystalline samples of the tetragonal compounds R₃Rh₂ with R=Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er are presented. All the compounds are ferromagnetic at low temperature. However in Tb₃Rh₂ an antiferromagnetic behaviour is observed between 14 and 24 K. In Gd₃Rh₂, where the magnetocrystalline anisotropy must be negligible, it seems that the magnetic structure is not collinear. In the other compounds the observed properties essentially result from indirect exchange interactions and crystal field effects acting on the rare earth ions which lie in low symmetry sites.     

NMR investigation of Co magnetic anisotropy in RCo5 compounds

The hyperfine field anisotropy of the Co atoms at the two Co sites of RCo₅ compounds is investigated and related to the Co contribution to the magnetic anisotropy.     

First-principles investigation of the electronic structure and magnetism of Heusler alloys CoMnSb and Co2MnSb

The spin-polarized electronic band structures, density of states (DOS), and magnetic properties of Co-Mn-based Heusler alloys CoMnSb and Co₂MnSb have been studied by first-principles method. The calculations were performed by using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) within the spin-polarized density functional theory and generalized gradient approximation (GGA). Calculated electronic band structures and the density of states are discussed in terms of the contribution of Co 3d⁷4s², Mn 3d⁵4s², and Sb 5s²5p³ partial density of states and the spin magnetic moments were also calculated. The results reveal that both CoMnSb and Co₂MnSb have stable ferromagnetic ground state. They are ideal half-metallic (HM) ferromagnet at their equilibrium lattice constants. The calculated total spin magnetic moments are 3μ_B for CoMnSb and 6μ_B for Co₂MnSb per unit cell, which agree with the Slater-Pauling rule quite well.     

Electronic structure and magnetic properties of Gd3Co11B4 compound

The electronic structure of hexagonal Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound has been studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and ab initio self-consistent tight binding linear muffin tin orbital (TB LMTO) method. We have found a good agreement between the experimental XPS valence band spectra and theoretical LMTO calculations. Results showed that the Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound is ferrimagnetic with the calculated total magnetic moment M=14.29 μ_B/f.u. The values of the magnetic moments on Co atoms strongly depend on the local environment. We have also compared the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound with those of Nd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound.     

Electronic, magnetic and transport properties of Co2TiZ (Z=Si, Ge and Sn): A first-principle study

We have studied the electronic structure, magnetic and transport properties of some Co based full Heusler alloys, namely Co₂TiZ (Z=Si, Ge and Sn), in the frame work of first-principle calculations. The calculations show that Co₂TiZ (X=Si, Ge and Sn) are to be half-metallic compounds with a magnetic moment of 2 μ_B, well consistent with the Slater-Pauling rule. The electronic structure results reveal that Co₂TiZ has the high density of states at the Fermi energy in the majority-spin state and show 100% spin polarization. Our results also suggest that both the electronic and magnetic properties in these compounds are intrinsically related to the appearance of the minority-spin gap. The origin of energy gap in the minority-spin states is discussed in terms of the electron splitting of Z (Z=Si, Ge and Sn) and 3d Co atoms and also the d-d hybridization between the Co and Ti atoms. The transport properties of these materials are discussed on the basis of Seebeck coefficients, electrical conductivity coefficients and thermal conductivity coefficients.     

High spin polarization in ordered Cr3Co with the DO3 structure: A first-principles study

The electronic structure of the highly ordered alloy Cr₃Co with the DO₃ structure has been studied by FLAPW calculations. It is found that the ferrimagnetic state is stable and that the equilibrium lattice constant of Cr₃Co equals 5.77 Å. A large peak in majority spin density of states (DOS) and an energy gap in minority spin DOS are observed at the Fermi level, which results in a high spin polarization of 90% in the ordered alloy Cr₃Co. The total magnetic moment of Cr₃Co is 3.12μ_B, which is close to the ideal value of 3μ_B derived from the Slater-Pauling curve. An antiparallel alignment between the moments on the Cr (A, C) sites and the Cr (B) sites is observed. Finally, the effect of lattice distortion on the electronic structure and on magnetic properties of Cr₃Co compound is studied. A spin polarization higher than 80% can be obtained between 5.55 and 5.90 Å. With increasing lattice constant, the magnetic moments on the (A, C) sites increase and the moments on the (B, D) sites decrease. They compensate each other and make the total magnetic moment change only slightly.     

Magnetic structure of geometrically frustrated compound Co2Cl(OH)3 determined by proton NMR

The magnetic structure of a geometrically frustrated system Co₂Cl(OH)₃ is determined by comparing the observed proton NMR spectrum with numerical calculations based on various magnetic models. The best fit is obtained with a model that the magnetic moments of Co²⁺ ions in the triangular plane are parallel to the principal axis of local crystal field and those of Co²⁺ ions in the kagome lattice plane are randomly disordered in the a-b plane, which nearly bisects the angle between the principal axis of the local field and a line pointing towards the body center of the tetrahedron. The coexistence of the ferromagnetic order in the triangular plane and the random disorder in the kagome plane is consistent with the results of measurements by Zheng et al. However, the magnetic moments of Co²⁺ ions are not directed towards the body center of the tetrahedron as characteristic in the “spin ice” magnetic structure. Furthermore, the Co²⁺ ions in the triangular plane have a smaller magnitude of magnetic moment than those in the kagome plane. Thus, our result suggests that the transition metal compound Co₂Cl(OH)₃ is different from the “spin ice” in magnetic structure, although it is similar to rare-earth pyrochlores in crystal structure.     

Neutron diffraction study on composite compound Nd2Co7

The crystallographic and the magnetic structures of the composite compound Nd₂Co₇ at 300 K are investigated by a combined refinement of X-ray diffraction data and high-resolution neutron diffraction data. The compound crystallizes into a hexagonal Ce₂Ni₇-type structure and consists of alternately stacking MgZn₂-type NdCo₂ and CaCu₅-type NdCo₅ structural blocks along the c axis. A magnetic structure model with the moments of all atoms aligning along the c axis provides a satisfactory fitting to the neutron diffraction data and coincides with the easy magnetization direction revealed by the X-ray diffraction experiments on magnetically pre-aligned fine particles. The refinement results show that the derived atomic moments of the Co atoms vary in a range of 0.7 μ_B-1.1 μ_B and the atomic moment of Nd in the NdCo₅ slab is close to the theoretical moment of a free trivalent Nd³⁺ ion, whereas the atomic moment of Nd in the NdCo₂ slab is much smaller than the theoretical value for a free Nd³⁺ ion. The remarkable difference in the atomic moment of Nd atoms between different structural slabs at room temperature is explained in terms of the magnetic characteristics of the NdCo₂ and NdCo₅ compounds and the local chemical environments of the Nd atoms in different structural slabs of the Nd₂Co₇ compound.     

Transferred hyperfine fields at 119Sn in Fe1−xMxSn [M≡Mn, Co and Ni]

The transferred hyperfine fields at ¹¹⁹Sn, using Mössbauer spectroscopy are reported for the hexagonal B-35 compounds with a general formula Fe_1?xM_xSn, where MMn, Co and Ni. In these compounds, Sn atoms occupy two crystallographically inequivalent sites. For FeSn the observed spectrum consists of a quadrupole doublet and a magnetic pattern corresponding to 2(d) and 2(a) sites respectively. The data have been analysed to resolve the controversy regarding hyperfine parameters. On replacing Fe by Mn atoms, additional lines appear in the higher velocity region of the Mössbauer spectrum and the intensity of the nuclear Zeeman pattern increases at the expense of quadrupole doublet. The resulting Mössbauer spectra have been analysed by taking only the nearest neighbour interactions into account. This analysis shows that on replacing each Fe atom by a Mn atom, the hyperfine field at 1(a) Sn site increases by about 40 kOe and a field of about 35 kOe is produced at the 2(d) Sn sites. Further, from the nuclear Zeeman pattern for 2(d) sites, the sign of quadropole splitting for these sites could also be determined and was found to be positive. However, the substitution of Co and Ni in place of Fe atoms results in a broad unresolved pattern suggesting that the hyperfine field at the 1(a) sites decreases and a finite field develops at the 2(d) site. The origin of transferred hyperfine fields at the two inequivalent Sn sites is discussed, the magnetic transition temperatures of these compounds have been estimated and the magnetic moments of M-atoms have been inferred.     

First-principle study of magnetism in Co-doped SnO2

The effects of Co dopants and oxygen vacancies on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the Co-doped SnO₂ are studied by the first-principle calculations in full-potential linearized augmented plane wave formalism within generalized gradient approximations. The Co atoms favorably substitute on neighboring sites of the metal sublattice. Without oxygen vacancies, the Co atoms are at low spin state independent of concentration and distribution of Co atoms, and only the magnetic coupling between nearest-neighbor Co atoms is ferromagnetic through direct exchange and super-exchange interaction. Oxygen vacancies tend to locate near the Co atoms. Their presence strongly increases the local magnetic moments of Co atoms, which depend sensitively on the concentration and distribution of Co atoms. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can induce the long-range ferromagnetic coupling between well-separated Co atoms through the spin-split impurity band exchange mechanism. Thus the room temperature ferromagnetism observed experimentally in the Co-doped SnO₂ may originate from the combination of short-range direct exchange and super-exchange interaction and the long-range spin-split impurity band exchange model.     

Mössbauer study of Na0.82Co0.99Fe0.01O2

We studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy the Na_0.82CoO₂ compound using 1% ⁵⁷Fe as a local probe which substitutes for the Co ions. Mössbauer spectra at T=300 K revealed two sites which correspond to Fe³⁺ and Fe⁴⁺. The existence of two distinct values of the quadrupole splitting instead of a continuous distribution should be related with the charge ordering of Co⁺³, Co⁺⁴ ions and ion ordering of Na(1) and Na(2). Below T=10 K part of the spectrum area, corresponding to Fe⁴⁺ and all of Fe³⁺, displays broad magnetically split spectra arising either from short-range magnetic correlations or from slow electronic spin relaxation.