Room temperature soft ferromagnetism in the nanocrystalline form of YCo2, A well-known bulk Pauli paramagnet
Abstract
The Laves phase compound YCo2 is a well-known exchange-enhanced Pauli paramagnet. We report here that, in the nanocrystalline form, this compound interestingly is an itinerant ferromagnet at room temperature with a low coercive field. The magnitude of the saturation moment (about 1μB per formula unit) is large enough to infer that the ferromagnetism is not a surface phenomenon in these nanocrystallites. Since these ferromagnetic nanocrystallites are easy to synthesize with a stable form in air, one can explore applications, particularly where the hysteresis is a disadvantage.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- May 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.2929380
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0804.1926
- Bibcode:
- 2008ApPhL..92s2506J
- Keywords:
-
- 75.20.En;
- 75.50.Cc;
- 75.50.Tt;
- 75.30.Cr;
- 75.60.Ej;
- 75.30.Kz;
- Metals and alloys;
- Other ferromagnetic metals and alloys;
- Fine-particle systems;
- nanocrystalline materials;
- Saturation moments and magnetic susceptibilities;
- Magnetization curves hysteresis Barkhausen and related effects;
- Magnetic phase boundaries;
- Condensed Matter - Materials Science;
- Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons
- E-Print:
- App. Phys. Lett. 92 (2008) 192506