Magnetization and NMR study of amorphous Ni-P alloys in the paramagnetic concetration range

The temperature- and field-dependence of magnetization, and the ³¹P NMR linewidth and Knight shift of some amorphous Ni_100?xP_x alloys with 18? x ? 22 prepared by melt-quenching and electrodeposition were studied below room temperature. Although all the alloys investigated contain magnetic inhomogeneities, the amount and nature of which depend on impurities and on the details of sample preparation, it could be established that the amorphous matrix of Ni_100?xP_x alloys with x ? 18 exhibit Pauli paramagnetism and the Pauli susceptibility was found to decrease rapidly with P content. From the results, a similarity of the electronic structure and the short-range order in amorphous Ni-P alloys and in the crystalline Ni₃P compound is deduced.