First principles study on the electronic structure and magnetism of Fe1-xCoxSi alloys

Electronic and magnetic properties of Fe1-xCoxSi alloys were investigated by using a full-potential linear augmented-plane-wave method based on density functional theory. Electronic structure calculation demonstrates that half-metallic property appears in the Fe-rich region of 0 〈 x ≤ 0.25, while the alloys turn out to be a magnetic metal for x 〉 0.25. The concentration dependence of the magnetic moment of the alloys can be understood by the fixed Fermi level at minority band in Fe-rich region, as well as at the majority band in Co-rich region. In Fe-rich alloys, the electronic structure and the magnetic properties at Fe site depend mainly on the spin-polarization of nearest neighbouring Co atoms, while in Co-rich alloys, these features at Co site arise mainly from the neighbours of Fe atoms.

The crystal structure,magnetism,and colossal magnetoresistance of Y_2CrS_4

Ternary yttrium chromium sulfide,Y2CrS4,prepared by the solid-state reaction of Y2S3,Cr,and S,was found to exhibit an antiferromagnetic transition at about 64 K.The X-ray diffraction pattern at 300 K was refined with space group Pca2 1,and the structure parameters were determined to be a = 12.51 Ab = 7.53A,and c = 12.49A,We investigated the magnetotransport properties,and observed negative colossal magnetoresistance reaching up to 2.5 × 10^ 4 % in the semiconducting compound of Y2CrS4.

Room-temperature creation and manipulation of skyrmions in MgO/FeNiB/Mo multilayers

Magnetic skyrmions in multilayer structures are considered as a new direction for the next generation of storage due to their small size,strong anti-interference ability,high current-driven mobility,and compatibility with existing spintronic technology.In this work,we present a tunable room temperature skyrmion platform based on multilayer stacks of MgO/FeNiB/Mo.We systematically studied the creation of magnetic skyrmions in MgO/FeNiB/Mo multilayer structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA).In these structures,the magnetic anisotropy changes from PMA to in-plane magnetic anisotropy(IMA)as the thickness of FeNiB layer increases.By adjusting the applied magnetic field and electric current,stable and high-density skyrmions can be obtained in the material system.The discovery of this material broadens the exploration of new materials for skyrmion and promotes the development of spintronic devices based on skyrmions.

Low-temperature ferromagnetism in tensile-strained LaCoO_(2.5)thin film

The origin of ferromagnetism in epitaxial strained LaCoO_(3-x)films has long been controversial.Here,we investigated the magnetic behavior of a series of oxygen vacancy-ordered LaCoO_(3-x)films on different substrates.Obvious ferromagnetism was observed in perovskite LaCoO_(3)/LSAT(LSAT=(LaAlO_(3))0.3(SrAlTaO_(6))_(0.7))and LaCoO_(3)/SrTiO_(3) films,while LaCoO_(3)/LaAlO_(3)films showed weak ferromagnetic behavior.Meanwhile,LaCoO_(2.67) films exhibited antiferromagnetic behavior.An unexpected low-temperature ferromagnetic phenomenon with a Curie temperature of~83 K and a saturation magnetization of~1.2μB/Co was discovered in 15 nm thick LaCoO_(2.5)/LSAT thin films,which is probably related to the change in the interface CoO_(6) octahedron rotation pattern.Meanwhile,the observed ferromagnetism gradually disappeared as the thickness of the film increased,indicating a relaxation of tensile strain.Analysis suggests that the rotation and rhombohedral distortion of the CoO_(6) octahedron weakened the crystal field splitting and promoted the generation of the ordered high-spin state of Co^(2+).Thus the super-exchange effect between Co^(2+)(high spin state),Co^(2+)(low spin state)and Co^(2+)(high spin state)produced a low-temperature ferromagnetic behavior.However,compressive-strained LaCoO_(2.5)film on a LaAlO_(3)substrate showed normal anti-ferromagnetic behavior.These results demonstrate that both oxygen vacancies and tensile strain are correlated with the emergent magnetic properties in epitaxial LaCoO_(3-x)films and provide a new perspective to regulate the magnetic properties of transition oxide thin films.

Magnetic Microstructures of 2∶17 Type Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)_z Magnets Detected by Magnetic Force Microscopy

The magnetic microstructures of 2：17 type Sm （Co, Fe, Cu, Zr）z magnets were detected by magnetic force microscopy. Comparing the microstructures of the specimens eoated with and without Ta thin film before and after heat-treatment, it is found that： （a） as a protection layer, Ta coating layer about 20 nm thick can effectively restrain Sm volatilization under high temperature; （b） the stress built in the 2.17 type Sm-Co magnets during specimen preparation only affects some local parts of the domain structures; （c） the magnetic microstructures vary largely for specimens heat-treated at high temperature without Ta film coating due to Sm volatilization. In addition, by comparing with high coercivity Fe-Pt point tips, it is found that the Co-Cr thin-film tips are not suitable for detecting the magnetic microstructures of strong permanent magnets.

Break-Down of Vertical-Bloch-Line Chains in Ordinary Hard Bubble Walls Subjected to an In-plane Field

An experimental and theoretical study was carried out on the break-down of vertical-Bloch-line(VBL)chains in ordinary hard bubble walls subjected to an in-plane field,H_(ip).Other than a single critical value,a critical range of in-plane field,from H_(ip)^(1) to H_(ip)^(2),was found.When H_(ip)<H_(ip)^(1) the VBL chains keep unchanged;whereas when H_(ip)^(1)<H_(ip)<H_(ip)^(2),more and more hard domains are softened.Above H_(ip)^(2) all VBL chains are broken-down.A theoretical analysis showed that the critical range of H_(ip) is originated from the serpentine curving of domain walls,and a relation H_(ip)^(2)/H_(ip)^(1)=√2,was obtained,which is in good agreement with the experiments.

Magnetic entropy change and magnetic phase transition of LaFe11.4Al1.6Cx （x=0-0.8） compounds

The unit cell volume and phase transition temperature of LaFe11.4Al1.6Cx compounds have been studied. The magnetic entropy change, refrigerant capacity and the type of magnetic phase transition are investigated in detail for LaFe11.4Al1.6Cx with x=0.1, All the LaFe11.4Al1.6Cx （x=0-0.8） compounds have the cubic NaZn13-type structure. The addition of carbon atoms brings about a considerable increase in the lattice parameter. The bulk expansion results in the change of phase transition temperature （Tc）, Tc increases from 187K to 269 K with x varying from 0.1 to 0.8, Meanwhile an increase in the lattice parameter can also cause a change of the magnetic ground state from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic. Large magnetic entropy change IASI is found over a large temperature range around Tc and the refrigerant capacity is about 322J/kg for LaFe11.4Al1.6C0.1. The magnetic phase transition belongs in weakly first-order one for x=0.1.

Magnetic domain structures of precipitation-hardened SmCo 2:17-type sintered magnets: Heat treatment effect

The typical magnetic domains of Sm（CObalFe0.25Cuo.07Zr0.02）7.4 magnets quenched through various heattreatment steps have been revealed by using magnetic force microscopy （MFM）. For the specimens in which the nominal c-axis is perpendicular to the imaging plane, the domain configurations change from plate-like for the as-sintered magnet to corrugation and spike-like for the homogenized one, and then to a coarse and finally to a finer domain structure when isothermally aged at 830℃ and then annealed at 400℃. However, only plate-like domains can be detected on the surfaces with the nominal c-axis parallel to the imaging plane. The finer domain （so-called interaction domain） is a characteristic magnetic domain pattern of the SmCo 2：IT-type magnets with high coercivities. Domain walls in a zigzag shape are revealed by means of MFM in final bulk SraCo 2：17-type sintered magnets.

Influence of the Jahn-Teller distortion on magnetic ordering in TbMn_(1-x)Fe_xO_3

The Jahn-Teller distortion plays an important role in determining the exchange interaction in rare-earth manganites.In this work we study the influence of the Jahn-Teller distortion on the magnetic structures of TbMn1-xFexO3（x = 0,0.02,0.05,0.10,and 0.20） single crystals in the basal MnO2 plane.The decrease in the quadruple splitting with the increasing Fe doping indicates the reduction of the Jahn-Teller distortion,which makes the nearest neighboring（NN） FM interaction dominant over the next nearest neighbor（NNN） AFM interaction.This alteration is favorable for the development of A-type AFM ordering instead of the spiral magnetic ordering,which collapses when x ≥ 0.05.The analysis of dielectric data indicates that the ferroelectricity is arising from the peculiar spiral magnetic ordering.

Machine learning technique for prediction of magnetocaloric effect in La(Fe,Si/Al)_(13)-based materials

Data-mining techniques using machine learning are powerful and efficient for materials design, possessing great potential for discovering new materials with good characteristics. Here, this technique has been used on composition design for La（Fe,Si/Al）（13）-based materials, which are regarded as one of the most promising magnetic refrigerants in practice. Three prediction models are built by using a machine learning algorithm called gradient boosting regression tree（GBRT） to essentially find the correlation between the Curie temperature（TC）, maximum value of magnetic entropy change（（？SM）（max））,and chemical composition, all of which yield high accuracy in the prediction of TC and（？SM）（max）. The performance metric coefficient scores of determination（R^2） for the three models are 0.96, 0.87, and 0.91. These results suggest that all of the models are well-developed predictive models on the challenging issue of generalization ability for untrained data, which can not only provide us with suggestions for real experiments but also help us gain physical insights to find proper composition for further magnetic refrigeration applications.

Electron spin resonance study of the Ba-doping manganite Nd_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)MnO_3

We have performed magnetization measurements and electron spin resonance （ESR） on polycrystalline manganites of Nd0.5Sr0.5-xBaxMnO3 （x = 0.1）. Phase separation and phase transitions are observed from the susceptibility and the ESR spectra data. Between 260 K （～ Tc） and 185 K （～ TN）, the system coexists of the paramagnetic phase and the ferromagnetic （FM） phase. Between 185 K and 140 K, the system coexists of the FM phase and the antiferromagnetic （AFM） phase. These results indicate that the system has a very complex magnetic state due to the origin of the instability stemming from manganite Nd0.5Sr0.4Ba0.1MnO3 by partially substituting the larger Ba^2＋ ions for the smaller Sr^2＋ ions.

Micromagnetic Simulation of Magnetization Reversal in SmCo_5/Sm_2Co_(17) Magnets

A three-dimensional finite element micromagnetic algorithm was developed to study the magnetization reversal of the SmCo 5/Sm 2Co 17 based magnets. The influences of the microstructure and magnetic parameters on the coercivity were studied based on the model consisting of 64 irregular cells according to the experimental microstructure. Numerical results show that the coercivity increases with increasing the 2∶17-type cell size. Large cell boundary thickness leads to small coercivity. The drop of anisotropy constant of 1∶5 phase leads to the coercivity reducing, while the effect of exchange constant of 1∶5 phase on coercivity is contrary to that of exchange constant. The calculated field dependence of coercivity can be predicted by an inhomogeneous domain-wall pinning model. The microstructure parameter was analyzed by comparing the calculated coercivity.

Investigation on Hard Magnetic Properties of Nanocomposite Permanent Magnets with Precipitate-Typed Microstructure by Micromagnetic Finite-Element Methods

The demagnetization curves were calculated using micromagnetic finite-element method for nanocomposite Pr 2Fe 14B/α-Fe permanent magnets with precipitate-typed microstructure. Due to intergrain exchange coupling, both remanence enhancement and a single magnetic phase behavior in demagnetization curve were found. For the samples with the hard phase as the precipitate and the soft one as the matrix, a coercivity μ 0H c of 0.78 T, a remanence J r of 1.18 T and a large energy product (BH) max of 200 kJ·m -3 are obtained for the sample with hard grain size being 23 nm. While, for the sample with the soft phase as the precipitate, μ 0H c of 0.95 T, J r of 1.24 T and (BH) max of 240 kJ·m -3 are obtained for the sample with soft grain size being 10 nm. The calculating results were compared with the experimental Pr 8Fe 87B 5 ribbons. The dependence of remanence and coercivity on the microstructure was discussed extensively.

Texture analysis of ultra-high coercivity Sm_(2)Co_(7) hot deformation magnets

Bulk anisotropic Sm_(2)Co_(7) nanocrystalline magnets were successfully prepared by hot deformation process using spark plasma sintering technology.The coercivity of the isotropic Sm_(2)Co_(7) nanocrystalline magnet is 34.76 kOe,further,the ultra-high coercivity of 50.68 kOe is obtained in the anisotropic hot deformed Sm_(2)Co_(7) magnet when the height reduction is70%,which is much higher than those of the ordinarily produced hot deformed Sm_(2)Co_(7) magnet.X-ray diffraction(XRD)analysis shows that all the samples are Sm_(2)Co_(7) single phase.The investigation by electron backscatter diffraction indicates that increasing the amount of deformation is beneficial to the improvement of the(001) texture of Sm_(2)Co_(7) magnets.The Sm_(2)Co_(7) nanocrystalline magnet generates a strong c-axis crystallographic texture during large deformation process.

Effects of CeO2 and nano-ZrO2 agents on the crystallization behavior and mechanism of CaO–Al2O3–MgO–SiO2-based glass ceramics

The crystallization behavior and mechanism of CaO–Al2O3–MgO–SiO2(CAMS)-based diopside glass ceramics with nano-ZrO2 nucleators and CeO2 agents have been investigated.The use of nanoscale ZrO2 as nucleators is favorable to the crystallization of glass ceramic at a relatively lower temperature due to the reduction of the activation energy, while the activation energy is increased after adding the CeO2 agent.The microstructure and orientation have been analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction.Two discernible layers are observed, featured in glass and crystalline phases, respectively.Remarkably textured polycrystalline diopsides are verified for the samples(A and B)free of CeO2 agents, with c-axes perpendicular to the interface of the two layers.Comparatively, the c-axes of diopside grains of the sample(C) with CeO2 agents are proved to be parallel to the interface.Nanocrystals are detected in the vicinity of the interface for sample C.

Magnetoresistance Probe of Ultrathin Mn5Ge3 Films with Anderson Weak Localization

We present the magnetoresistance measurements of ultrathin Mn5Ge3 films with different thicknesses at low temperatures. Owing to the lattice mismatch between MnsGe3 and Ge （111）, the thickness of MnsGe3 films has a significant effect on the magnetoresistance. When the thickness of Mn is more than 72 monolayers （MLs）, the magnetoresistance of the Mn5 Ge3 films appears a peak at about 6 kOe, which shows that the magnetoresistance results from the Anderson weak localization effect and the variable range hopping in the presence of a magnetic field. The magnetic and semiconducting properties indicate that the Mn5 Ge3 film is a potential material for spin injection.

Influence of misch metal content on microstructure and magnetic properties of R–Fe–B magnets sintered by dual alloy method

MM14Fe79.9B6.1/Nd13.5Fe80.5B6 magnets were fabricated by dual alloy method（MM, misch metal）. Some magnets have two Curie temperatures. Curie temperatures Tc1corresponds to the main phase which contains more La Ce, and Tc1 decreases from 276.5℃ to 256.6℃ with the content of MM increasing from 30.3 at.% to 50.6 at.%. The variation of Br with the increase of MM indicates the existence of inter-grain exchange coupling in the magnets. When MM/R ≤ 30.3 at.%,the magnetic properties can reach the level of the intrinsic coercivity Hcj≥ 7.11 kOe and the maximum energy product（BH）max≥ 41 MGOe. Compared with Nd, La and Ce are easier to diffuse to the grain boundaries in the sintering process,and this will cause the decrease of H（cj） Due to the diffusion between the grains, the atomic ratio of La, Ce, Pr, and Nd in each grain is different and the percentage of Nd in all grains is higher than that in misch metal.

Magnetic Hardening of Rapidly Quenched Co-M-Zr(M=B,Fe)Alloys

Effects of the quenching rate and annealing temperature on hard magnetic properties of rapidly quenched Co_(84-x)B_(x)Zr_(16)and Co_(82-x)Fe_(x)Zr_(18)alloys were studied.The B-or Fe-content dependence of room temperature coercivity H_(c),remanence B_(r) and maximum energy product(BH)_(max) are obtained.The H_(c) is suggested to originate from the microstructure with the optimal grain size.

Reverse of Dumbbell Rotation in Garnet Bubble Films

The bias field dependence of the rotation direction of the dumbbells,contracted from multi-branched domains,was experimentally studied.Moreover,it was found that the rotation direction of these dumbbells can be reversed by increasing the amplitude of the testing bias pulses with quite narrow width.

Determination of the magnetic anisotropy constant of Cu/Fe/SiO_2/Si by a magneto-optical Kerr effect susceptometer

The magneto-optical Kerr effect susceptometry technique is proposed to determine the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy （UMA） constant Ku. The magnetic properties of Cu/Fe/SiO2/Si grown by dc magnetron sputtering were investigated. The in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy was probed by the magneto-optical Kerr effect （MOKE）. The value of UMA, Ku = 2.5 x 103 J/m3, was simulated from the field dependence of ac susceptibility along the hard axis according to the Stoner-Wohlfarth （S-W） model, which is consistent with Ku = 2.7~ 103 J/m3 calculated from the magnetic hysteresis loops. Our results show that the magneto-optical Kerr effect susceptometry can be employed to determine the magnetic anisotropy constant owing to its high sensitivity.