Structural, magnetic and electronic state characterization of L1 0-type ordered FeNi alloy extracted from a natural meteorite

J Phys Condens Matter. 2014 Feb 12;26(6):064206. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/26/6/064206.

Abstract

To understand the hard magnetism of L10-type ordered FeNi alloy, we extracted the L10-FeNi phase from a natural meteorite, and evaluated its fundamental solid-state properties: sample composition, magnetic hysteresis, crystal structure and electronic structure. We executed multidirectional analyses using scanning electron microscopy with an electron probe micro-analyzer (SEM-EPMA), a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). As a result, we found that the composition was Fe: 50.47 ± 1.98 at.%, Ni: 49.60 ± 1.49 at.%, and an obvious superlattice peak is confirmed. The estimated degree of order was 0.608, with lattice constants a = b = 3.582 Å and c = 3.607 Å. The obtained coercivity was more than 500 Oe. MCD analysis using the K absorption edge suggests that the magnetic anisotropy could originate from the orbital magnetic moment of 3d electrons in Fe; this result is consistent with that in a previous report obtained with synthetic L10-FeNi.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alloys / chemistry*
  • Electrons*
  • Iron / chemistry*
  • Magnetic Phenomena*
  • Meteoroids*
  • Nickel / chemistry*

Substances

  • Alloys
  • Nickel
  • Iron