Hysteretic behavior of Fe0.9−qMn0.1Alq-disordered alloys: a Monte Carlo study

In this work we have simulated the Fe_0.9−qMn_0.1Al_q alloy series with Al contents ranging from 10 up to 50 at%, and for several system sizes. In the simulation, the atoms are randomly distributed on a body-centered cubic according to the atomic disorder achieved through quenching techniques for the experimental samples. In computing the thermodynamic quantities such as the magnetization per site as a function of an external applied magnetic field, we have employed a Monte Carlo algorithm based on a Metropolis dynamics implemented with a random site-diluted Ising model. In this model, we have taken into account nearest-neighbor interactions for which both the ferromagnetic (Fe–Fe) and antiferromagnetic (Fe–Mn, Mn–Mn) interactions are present. From the simulation of the hysteresis loops at room temperature, the remanence and the coercive force as a function of the Al concentration have been obtained. Finally, a comparison with the previous experimental data on coercivity obtained by means of vibrating sample magnetometry is also carried out and discussed.