Magnetic and electrical properties of several Mn-based amorphous alloys

Magnetic and electrical properties of amorphous Mn-Y, Mn-Zr, and Mn-Nb alloys have been investigated. All these alloys have a temperature-dependent susceptibility which is well fitted by a Curie-Weiss law. This implies the existence of localized magnetic moments associated with the Mn atoms. In addition, amorphous Mn-Y alloys exhibit spin-glass characteristics at low temperature. The experimental results of the electrical resistivity show that the temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) of both Mn-Y and Mn-Zr are negative, while Mn-Nb has a positive TCR. On the other hand, the resistivity-temperature curves of Mn-Zr and Mn-Nb have nearly the same tendency but are different from that of Mn-Y.     

Magnetic properties of amorphous alloys

The magnetic properties of existing amorphous iron based materials, i.e., Fe--metalloid, Fe--early transition metals and Fe--rare earth alloys, are briefly discussed for some representative alloys. The spin orientation of amorphous Fe--metalloid alloys has been determined by the angular dependence of hyperfine interactions. It is shown that in iron--early transition metals ferromagnetic order is not long-ranged, but determined by magnetic clusters. The magnetic hyperfine field distributions of Fe-rich iron--early transition metals consist of a high and a low field tail. The magnetic structure has been investigated for two representative Fe--RE (RE = Er, Ce) amorphous alloys. For the first time, the magnetic coupling phenomenon in amorphous/crystalline multilayers has been discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Magnetic and electrical properties of amorphous PdCoP alloys

Magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements were performed (Pd_100?xCo_x)₈₀P₂₀ alloys where 15 < x < 50. The magnetic properties show that these alloys undergo a ferromagnetic transition between 272 and 399 K as the cobalt concentration increases from 15 to 50 atomic %. Below 20 atomic % Co the short-range exchange interactions which produce the ferromagnetism are unable to establish a long-range magnetic order and a peak in the magnetization shows up at the lowest temperature range under an applied field of 6.0 kOe. The electrical resistivity of these alloys has been measured from 4.2 K up to the vinicity of the melting point (900 K). The electrical resistivity data could be interpreted by the coexistence fo a Kondo-like minimum and ferromagnetism. The minimum becomes less important as the transition metal concentration increases. The coefficients of In T and T² become smaller and concentration dependent. The spin ordering in such alloys can be simulated as either the ordering due to an applied “external field” or as an increase in “internal fields”. These are due to an increase in transition metal concentration. The negative magnetoresistivity is a strong indication of the existence of localized moment.     

Composition dependence of the electrical transport properties of amorphous transition metal alloys

Summary A quadratic composition dependence of the electrical resistivity of amorphous transition metal alloys has been investigated at room temperature. A very good agreement between the theoretical and the observed values has been obtained in the case of Ni_xZr_1−x and Cu_xZr_1−x for all compositions. The thermoelectric power was then correlated with the electrical resistivity satisfactorily for the Cu_xZr_1−x and Ni_xZr_1−x To speed up publication, the authors of this paper have agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Magnetic properties of amorphous NiP alloys

Magnetization, NMR and coercive force measurements were performed on amorphous Ni_1?cP_c alloys for concentration ranging between 0.15 and 0.25. The experimental results show that the magnetism is not of the same nature below and above some critical concentration c₀ which determines the concentration ranges: the first one (0.15 < c < 0.18) presents the characters of a weak homogeneous ferromagnetism, while inhomogeneities dominate the magnetic properties of the second one (0.18 < c < 0.25).     

Magnetic and electrical transport properties of delta-doped amorphous Ge:Mn magnetic semiconductors

We report on the growth and characterization of delta-doped amorphous Ge:Mn diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates. The fabricated samples exhibit different magnetic behaviors, depending on the Mn doping concentration. The Curie temperature was found to be dependent on both the Mn doping concentration and spacing between the doping layers. A sharp drop in magnetization and rise in resistivity are observed at low temperature in samples with high Mn doping concentrations, which is also accompanied by a negative thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) in the higher temperature range. The temperature at which the magnetization starts to drop and the negative TRM appears show a correlation with the Mn doping concentration. The experimental results are discussed based on the formation of ferromagnetic regions at high temperature and antiferromagnetic coupling between these regions at low temperature.     

Magnetic and mechanical properties of amorphous Fe-Y alloys

The magnetic and mechanical properties of amorphous Fe_100−xY_x alloys (20 ≤ x ≤ 60) fabricated by rapid quenching have been measured. The dependence of the density, Young's modulus and magnetic moment per Fe atom on x shows a break point between x = 30 and 40, accompanied by a drastic change in the X-ray diffraction pattern. The spontaneous volume magnetostriction as well as the forced volume magnetostriction are a maximum at x = 20 and decrease rapidly with increasing x. The variation of the magnetic and mechanical properties with x is explained by a change of the local atomic arrangement in the amorphous state, reflecting the structure of corresponding crystalline compounds.     

Electronic transport properties of amorphous NiTi alloys

Measurements of electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall effect on amorphous Ni_100–x Ti _x alloys withx=39, 43, 60, 65, 70, and 76 are presented. The resistivity at 4.2 K is in the range 210 cm to 325 cm. The Hall coefficient turns out to be negative for low Ti contents and positive for high Ti contents with values around –6×10^–11 m³/As and +7×10^–11 m³/As, respectively. At low temperatures, the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the quantities measured are analysed and discussed in terms of weak localisation and electron-electron interaction effects.     

Magnetic properties of amorphous rare-earth—Iron alloys

The magnetic properties of various amorphous alloys of the type R_1-xFe_x (R = Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Lu) have been determined in the concentration range 0.3 ? x ? 0.5. With the exception of the Gd and Lu alloys pronounced thermomagnetic history effects were observed in the temperature dependence of the magnetization. These effects are due to a strong temperature dependence of the coercive force (H_c) which is found to obey an exponential law of the form H_c ∞ exp(-αT). ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra were obtained on the alloys of a composition close to 40 at% Fe. From the combined results of the Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements it is derived that the Fe moment decreases if one passes through the rare-earth series. It is postulated that this decrease is due to small differences in the compositional short-range order in the amorphous alloys caused by the heat of mixing becoming more negative in the same sense.     

Magnetic properties of rapidly quenched amorphous Fe-Sm alloys

The structural analysis and investigation of magnetic properties were carried out on rapidly quenched Fe_100−xSm_x (10.5 x 80) alloys. Amorphous alloys are fabricated in a wide composition range from x = 17 to 72.5. After heating the amorphous alloys up to 900 K, they transform into metastable phase I (T_c = 465 K)+ -Fe (x < 20), metastable phase II (T_c = 555 K)+-Fe (20 x 33.3) and Fe₂Sm+Sm (x40). The composition dependence of Curie temperature and magnetization is found to be similar to that of amorphous Fe-(Nd, Pr) alloys. A maximum coercive force of about 1.1 kOe at 300 K and 12 kOe at 77 K is obtained in the x = 40 alloy. The rapid decrease in coercive force with raising temperature can be explained by the wall pinning model proposed by Gaunt. The pronounced composition dependence of these magnetic properties for the amorphous Fe-Sm alloys can be considered to be caused by the change in the short-range atomic order with Sm concentration on the basis of the results of X-ray structural analysis.     

Electron transport properties of iron-based amorphous alloys under crystallization

The changes in the electron properties of amorphous alloys of the iron-boron system under crystallization have been studied by the angular distribution of annihilation photons, the temperature dependence of thermal emf, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The obtained qualitative estimates allow us to draw conclusions about some features of metallic bond in the amorphous crystalline state, in particular, to propose that positron annihilation is realized at the d electron shells and valence electrons of the crystalline phase nuclei.     

Severe plastic deformation of amorphous alloys: II. Magnetic properties

The influence of severe plastic deformation in a Bridgman cell on the magnetic properties of amorphous alloys of metal-metalloid type, Ni₄₄Fe₂₉Co₁₅Si₂B₁₀, Fe₇₄Si₁₃B₉Nb₃Cu₁, Fe_57.5Ni₂₅B_17.5, Fe_49.5Ni₃₃B_17.5, and Fe₇₀Cr₁₅B₁₅, obtained by melt spinning, has been investigated. It is found that the saturation magnetization significantly changes (increases or decreases), depending on the number of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic components in the alloy. It is suggested that very high shear stress causes internal phase decomposition in the amorphous matrix into nanoscale regions, enriched or depleted with ferromagnetic components.     

Magnetic clusters in amorphous metal alloys

The effect of thermal treatment in combination with an external magnetic field and/or elastic stress on the magnetic characteristics of amorphous metal alloys of the 2NSR type is studied. The complex behavior of the magnetization and coercivity values in dependence on the length of annealing at temperatures below crystallization is described. It is assumed that the observed changes in the macroscopic magnetic characteristics are associated with the formation of clusters with different degrees of exchange interaction.     

Magnetic and electrical properties in amorphous GeSeFe films

Amorphous GeSeFe films prepared by r.f. sputtering have shown paramagnetic, and ferromagnetic properties for the films with low and high Fe content, respectively. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity has indicated the variable range hopping conduction for the paramagnetic films and the metallic conduction for the ferromagnetic films. The films with intermediate Fe content have behaved intermediate between semiconductive and metallic conduction. These films are likely to be antiferromagnetic.     

Magnetic and structural features of amorphous FeMo-based alloys

NANOPERM-type FeMoCuB alloys are studied using magnetic and Mössbauer measurements in the as-prepared amorphous state. It is shown that the Fe₇₆Mo₈Cu₁B₁₅ (A) and Fe₇₄Mo₈Cu₁B₁₇ (B) alloys exhibit the magnetic dipole and electrical quadrupole interactions well detected in the room-temperature Mössbauer spectra. The thermomagnetic measurements above the room temperature indicate a vanishing of the magnetic interactions at approximately 310 K (A) and at 340 K (B), respectively. The low-temperature DC magnetic measurements show an anomaly around 200 K which is also a boundary at which zero-field Mössbauer measurements of both samples reflect the gradual “vanishing” of the electrical quadrupole interactions and appearance of another magnetically ordered component. The Mössbauer measurements in the field of 4 MA/m yield a survival of quadrupole and an enhancement of magnetic dipole interactions.     

Magnetic properties and large magnetocaloric effects in amorphous Gd-Al-Fe alloys for magnetic refrigeration

A series of the amorphous Gd75-55Al25-5Fe0-40 alloy ribbons were prepared by melt spinning.The structure,magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect(MCE) of these alloys were investigated.The prepared samples have shown the characteristics of a second-order phase transition with zero hysteresis loss and the Tc can be tuned by changing the Fe contents.For the different compositions,the magnetic entropy change(--Sm) for a field change of 0-5 T reached a maximum value of 7.14 J kg-1 K-1 in the Gd70Al20Fe10 a...     

Magnetic phases of amorphous transition metal-metalloid alloys

Hysteresis loop and ac susceptibility measurements were performed on three series of amorphous alloys: (A_wB_1-w)₇₅P₁₆B₆Al₃, where (A, B) are (Fe, Ni), (Co, Ni) and (Fe, Mn). Upon cooling, low w alloys undergo paramagne t to spin glass transitions. Alloys with higher w first experience a Curie transition to a ferromagnetic state, and then a spin freezing transition to a spin glass state. the T dependence of the width of the ac hysteresis loop is used to determine the spin freezing transition temperature. A magnetic phase diagram is presented for each alloy series and the value of w required for ferromagnetism, w_C, is determined. When measured in the presence of small constant fields, the ac susceptibility of alloys with w just above w_C has maxima near both transition temperatures. The field and temperature dependences of the peaks are explained by scaling arguments, used to determine the critical exponent δ for the Curie transition, and suggest that a similar scaling law holds for the ferromagnet to spin glass transition.     

Magnetic annealing in electrodeposited Co-P amorphous alloys

The different diffusion processes that occur in electrodeposited Co-P amorphous alloys when they are subjected to magnetic annealing at different temperatures are studied by Coercive field measurements. Different processes are identified with different activation energies: 0.19 eV (stress relaxation): 0.75 eV (directional order); 2.9 eV (crystallization process). The low value of the activation energy for the first mechanism is identified with the diffusion of H, and that of the second with the diffusion of P.