Magnetic irreversibility and metastability in a CuMn alloy

Our magnetic measurements on a CuMn alloy reveal that T_m, the temperature of the susceptibility peak, is marked by a qualitative change in the magnetization-vs.-field behavior. The magnetization process at and above T_m is reversible at all fields, whereas below T_m an irreversibility sets in at a threshold field H₁ and persists up to a second threshold field H₂. The irreversibility results in an isothermal remanence whose saturation value (attained when the field removed exceeds H₂) equals the saturation value of the thermoremanence (attained after cooling from above T_m in a field larger than H₂). Both states of remenence are characterized by a magnetization which is completely reversed by a small reverse field but returns to its original polarity when the field is removed. The hysteresis loop remains thus displaced as long as the cycling field is less than H₁.