Magnetic and structural properties of FeCr alloys

Synergistic synchrotron x-ray absorption experiments using imaging magnetic microspectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and ab initio calculations on FeCr alloys reveal that the Cr content strongly influences the ferromagnetic microstructure and the Fe magnetic moments. The Cr local structure resolved by extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) is also found to be affected by the alloy's composition. Both EXAFS and ab initio calculations show a change in the Cr local atomic structure above 10 at.% Cr content from the distance contraction of the first two coordination shells around the Cr absorbing atom. These results indicate the strong dependence of magnetic and structural properties of these alloys on Cr concentration.     

Pole density distributions in Co/Cr bilayers and magnetic properties

With regard to sputtered Co (50 nm)/Cr (thickness: T_Cr = 0–600 nm) bilayers on glass substrates, the (110) pole density distributions (PDD) of the bcc Cr layer and the (00·2) PDD of the post-deposited hcp Co layer were quantitatively measured by X-ray diffraction. It was found that with increasing T_Cr, a transition of preferred orientation (PO) occured in the Cr layer, affecting the PO of the Co layer and its magnetic properties.     

Search for polytipic structures of gadolinium

Abstract

The trivalent rare-earth element gadolinium has been studied up to 8 GPa and 700°C by energy-dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Except for the known crystal structures of hcp, Sm-type, and dhcp, no long-period polytypes have been observed. It is found that the hcp structure transforms directly to the dhcp structure with increasing pressure at high temperatures.     

Influence of interatomic correlation effects on short-range order in hexagonal close-packed polycrystalline alloys

The first x-ray diffraction procedure suitable for the investigation of short-range order in polycrystalline alloys having a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) lattice is developed on the basis of the theory proposed by M. A. Krivoglaz for diffuse x-ray scattering by hcp single-crystal alloys. This procedure takes into account specific details of the crystal structure of the hcp lattice, in particular, the presence of two atoms in the unit cell and the close radii of the individual coordination spheres. The realistic character of the procedure is demonstrated experimentally in the example of hcp Mg-Dy and Mg-Tb alloys. The new procedure is used to calculate, for the first time, the modulating functions of linear and quadratic size effects in Mg-Dy and Mg-Tb alloys. It is shown that the size-effect modulating functions for coordination spheres with close radii have different characters, and their inclusion in diffuse scattering sets the stage for solving the problem of calculating the short-range order parameters on these spheres. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 2109–2115 (December 1999)     

Dynamics of the magnetic and structural alpha-epsilon phase transition in iron

We have studied the high-pressure iron bcc to hcp phase transition by simultaneous x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and x-ray absorption spectroscopy with an x-ray energy dispersive spectrometer. The combination of the two techniques allows us to obtain simultaneously information on both the structure and the magnetic state of iron under pressure. The magnetic and structural transitions simultaneously observed are sharp. Both are of first order in agreement with the theoretical prediction. The pressure domain of the transition observed (2.4+/-0.2 GPa) is narrower than that usually cited in the literature (8 GPa). Our data indicate that the magnetic transition slightly precedes the structural one, suggesting that the origin of the instability of the bcc phase in iron with increasing pressure is to be attributed to the effect of pressure on magnetism as predicted by spin-polarized full-potential total energy calculations.     

Ho2AlFe14Mn2化合物的负热膨胀性质

利用x射线衍射及磁测量手段研究了Ho2AlFe16-xMnx系列化合物的结构.结果表明，该系列化合物具有Th2Ni17型结构；随着x的增加，化合物的单胞体积呈现非线性的变化，结合磁测量结果分析认为，在化合物的磁相变点附近存在较大的正的本征磁致伸缩.在160—285K温度范围内对Ho2AlFe14Mn2化合物进行的变温x射线衍射研究表明，该化合物在其居里点附近(220—270K)具有负热膨胀性质，其平均热膨胀系数为-14×10-4/K. 关键词： Ho2AlFe16-xMnx化合物 负热膨胀 本征磁致伸缩     

Direct observation of the alpha-epsilon transition in shock-compressed iron via nanosecond x-ray diffraction

In situ x-ray diffraction studies of iron under shock conditions confirm unambiguously a phase change from the bcc (alpha) to hcp (epsilon) structure. Previous identification of this transition in shock-loaded iron has been inferred from the correlation between shock-wave-profile analyses and static high-pressure x-ray measurements. This correlation is intrinsically limited because dynamic loading can markedly affect the structural modifications of solids. The in situ measurements are consistent with a uniaxial collapse along the [001] direction and shuffling of alternate (110) planes of atoms, and are in good agreement with large-scale nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.     

Mobility transition of solid rare gases in confined environments

We report the results of x-ray diffraction and small angle scattering studies of Ar and Kr confined in sol-gel and Vycor glasses. The confined liquid crystallizes in a disordered hcp structure on freezing. Upon further cooling a sharp transition occurs at a reduced temperature of T/T(m) approximately 0.65, where the crystalline structure disappears and the total scattering decreases. This behavior marks the onset of a well-defined mobility transition, where the confined sample migrates out of the pore space.     

HIGH pressure structural investigations of zirconium using LMTO method

Abstract

The structural energy differences have been calculated for zirconium as a function of pressure at zero temperature using the Andersen force theorem and the linear muffin tin orbital method. The structures included are the following: α (hcp), the room temperature room pressure phase, ω- a three atom simple hexagonal, bcc and fcc. Our calculations show that the bcc structure would become energetically most favourable above 11 GPa. This results is in agreement with well known correlation between the crystal structure and the d-electron population in transition metals at normal volume. The diamond anvil cell based high pressure x-ray diffraction experiments are in progress to verify this result.     

Gd3Co29-xCrx新相化合物的结构与磁性

制备出具有室温单轴磁晶各向异性的非间隙型Co基Gd3Co29-xCrx化合物(x=65和70)，x射线衍射和磁性测量表明所有单相化合物均属于单斜晶系，Nd3(Fe,Ti)29型结构和A2/m空间群.Gd3Co29-xCrx化合物的居里温度在x=65时为412 K，x=70时为359 K. Gd3Co29-xCrx化合物在x=65 时磁化强度随温度的变化曲线表明，在居里温度以下的某一温度处有一补偿点，在补偿点处求得晶格分子场系数nRT=33 T f.u./μB. 关键词： Gd3Co29-xCrx化合物 x射线衍射 磁晶各向异性     

Structure and magnetic state of the films deposited by laser ablation of composite nickel and palladium targets

Transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and vibrating-sample magnetometry are used to show that a metastable hcp structure can form in both nickel and Ni-Pd alloy films during alternating sputtering of the Ni and Pd components of composite targets. The hcp lattice parameters increase monotonically when the palladium content in a sputtered target increases in the range 0–75%. The ratio of the hcp lattice parameters c/a is close to the ideal ratio for the hcp lattice (1.63) within the limits of experimental error. In the as-deposited state, nickel and Ni-Pd alloy films with an hcp structure have no magnetic moment. Upon annealing, the films transform into a ferromagnetic state with an fcc structure. The concentration dependence of the lattice parameter of the fcc solid solution a ₀ is found to exhibit a positive deviation from Vegard’s law, which is characteristic of alloys with a concave liquidus line.     

Strain-induced bond buckling and its role in insulating properties of Cr-doped V2O3

Structural transformations around both V and Cr atoms in (V1-xCrx)2O3 across its metal-insulator transition (MIT) at x approximately 0.01 are studied by extended x-ray absorption fine-structure technique. Our new results for Cr made possible by the use of a novel x-ray analyzer that we developed reveal the substitutional mechanism of Cr doping. We find that this system has a buckled structure with short Cr-V and long V-V bonds. This system of bonds is disordered around the average trigonal lattice ascertained by x-ray diffraction. Such local distortions can result in a long range strain field that sets in around dilute Cr atoms in microscopic regions. We suggest that such locally strained regions should be insulating even at small x. The possibility of local insulating regions within a metallic phase, first suggested by Rice and Brinkman in 1972, remains unaccounted for in modern MIT theories.     

Thermal expansion behaviors of hcp and fcc Co nanowire arrays

The lattice parameters of as-prepared and annealed Co nanowires with hcp and fcc structures have been measured using the in situ high-temperature x-ray diffraction method. The hcp and fcc Co nanowires have been fabricated within the porous anodic alumina membranes by a direct-current electrodeposition technique. The results indicate that the variational quantity of the interplanar spacing for hcp Co nanowire arrays is bigger than that for fcc Co nanowire arrays in spite of as-prepared and annealed samples. The structural difference between hcp and fcc Co nanowires results in the different thermal expansion behaviors.     

AlN/NbN纳米结构多层膜的共格异结构外延生长研究

采用射频磁控溅射法制备了NbN,AlN单层膜及不同调制周期的AlN/NbN纳米结构多层膜,采用X射线衍射仪、小角度X射线反射仪和高分辨透射电子显微镜等对薄膜进行了表征.结果表明：单层膜AlN为六方结构,NbN为面心立方结构;AlN/NbN多层膜中AlN为六方结构,NbN为面心立方结构,界面处呈共格状态,其共格关系为c-NbN（111）面平行于h-AlN（0002）面,晶格错配度为013%.热力学计算表明:AlN/NbN多层膜中不论AlN层与NbN层的厚度如何,AlN层均不会形成亚稳的立方AlN,而是形成 关键词： AlN/NbN纳米结构多层膜 共格外延生长 异结构     

Suppression of incommensurate spin-density waves in thin epitaxial Cr(110) layers of a V/Cr multilayer

We observed a complete suppression of the incommensurate spin-density wave in thin Cr layers of a V/Cr multilayer in a temperature range from 550 K down to 2 K. The (110)-oriented V/Cr multilayer consisting of 30 nm thick Cr layers and 5 nm thick V layers was investigated by neutron and X-ray diffraction (XRD). From the XRD experiments we were able to determine that the epitaxial strain of the Cr layers in the V/Cr multilayer is about 90% larger than in earlier studied Fe/Cr(110) multilayers. That leads to a completely different magnetic phase diagram as revealed by neutron diffraction experiments. The existence of the commensurate antiferromagnetic structure in the Cr layers can be observed in the whole temperature range without a phase transition to an incommensurate spin-density wave at lower temperatures. In order to elucidate the proximity effects further we also performed experiments in an external magnetic field. Up to a field of 4 T we found no change in the magnetic structure of the Cr films whereas in earlier experiments on Fe/Cr(110) multilayers we could observe a strong perpendicular pinning of the Cr polarization to the Fe magnetization.Received: 28 August 2003, Published online: 8 December 2003PACS: 75.30.Fv spin-density waves - 75.70.-i magnetic properties of thin films, surfaces, and interfaces - 61.12.-q Neutron diffraction and scattering     

Structural and magnetic studies of Co thin films

The trend in reducing device dimension induces new physical properties and requires the development of measurement tools at the nanometer scale. This paper deals with the relation between magnetism and structure of thin films. We have chosen cobalt as a ferromagnetic layer and chromium as a bcc buffer. Magnetic and structural investigations have been led on epitaxial Co/Cr layers grown on MgO (001) substrates. The thickness of the cobalt layer varies from 0.75 to 20 nm. Investigations on the cobalt layer by EXAFS and HRTEM give evidence for a bcc or a hcp structure depending on the cobalt thickness. Magnetic measurements using SQUID indicate that the saturation magnetisation per volume unit is constant for the layers. EELS experiments have been carried out to measure any evolution in the I(L3)/I(L2) ratio for ferromagnetic layers of different thickness. We discuss the influence of structural and magnetic contributions on the evolution of the ratio with the cobalt thickness.     

Martensitic fcc-to-hcp transformation observed in xenon at high pressure

Angle-resolved x-ray diffraction patterns of Xe to 127 GPa indicate that the fcc-to-hcp transition occurs martensitically between 3 and 70 GPa in diamond-anvil cells without an intermediate phase. These data also reveal that the transition occurs by the introduction of stacking disorder in the fcc lattice at low pressure, which grows into hcp domains with increasing pressure. The small energy difference between the hcp and the fcc structures may allow the two phases to coexist over a wide pressure range. Evidence of similar stacking disorder and incipient growth of an hcp phase are also observed in solid Kr.     

Magnetic configurations of hexagonal iron rhenium multilayers

We present ab initio calculation of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Fe/Re multilayers assuming hcp crystallographic phase. The system is modeled according to recent structural analysis which shows that Fe/Re has bct(0 0 1) ordering for 0⩽t_Re⩽8 Å after which a structural phase transition occurs to an hcp phase. Antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic orders appear more stable than the nonmagnetic (NM) state, only when the Fe atoms begin to adopt an expanded volume of about 27% accompanied by an axial distortion (c/a=1.42). The sizeable magnetic moments calculated on Fe atoms contrast with the paramagnetic bulk hcp. These results are discussed and compared with recent experimental data on hcp Fe/Re superlattices and also with magnetic properties of Fe/Ru multilayers.     

Magnetic structure of the ferromagnetic new ternary silicide Nd5CoSi2

Nd(5)CoSi(2) was obtained from the elements by arc-melting followed by annealing at 883 K. Its investigation by single-crystal x-ray and neutron powder diffraction shows that this ternary silicide crystallizes as Nd(5)Si(3) in a tetragonal structure deriving from the Cr(5)B(3)-type (I4/mcm space group; a = 7.7472(2) and c = 13.5981(5) ? as unit cell parameters). The structural refinements confirm the mixed occupancy on the 8h site between Si and Co atoms, as already observed for Gd(5)CoSi(2). Magnetization and specific heat measurements reveal a ferromagnetic behavior below T(C) = 55 K for Nd(5)CoSi(2). This magnetic ordering is further evidenced by neutron powder diffraction investigation revealing between 1.8 K and T(C) a canted ferromagnetic structure in the direction of the c-axis described by a propagation vector k = (0 0 0). At 1.8 K, the two Nd(3+) ions carry ordered magnetic moments equal respectively to 1.67(7) and 2.37(7) μ(B) for Nd1 and Nd2; these two moments exhibit a canting angle of θ = 4.3(6)°. This magnetic structure presents some similarities with that reported for Nd(5)Si(3).     

Magnetic properties of hole-doped SCGO, SrCr(8)Ga(4-x)M(x)O(19) (M?=?Zn, Mg, Cu)

We report changes in the magnetic properties of hole-doped SCGO, SrCr8Ga4O19, induced by replacing non-magnetic Ga3+ with both non-magnetic (Mg2+ and Zn2+) and magnetic (Cu2+) cations. The resulting solid solutions, SrCr(8)Ga(4-x)M(x)O(19) (M = Zn, Mg, Cu) have been studied by x-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements. For all cases, at least 10% of Ga can be replaced by divalent cations resulting in oxidation of ≥5% of the Cr3+ d3 to Cr4+ (d2). The hole doping results in an increase in ferromagnetic interactions and reduces the magnetic frustration. In the SrCr(8)Ga(4-x)Cu(x)O(19) series an enhancement of the spin-glass-like transition is observed, T(f)～ 6 K, which we ascribe to the magnetic nature of the Cu2+ (d9) dopant.