Structural and magnetic evolution of bimetallic MnAu clusters driven by asymmetric atomic migration

Nano Lett. 2014 Mar 12;14(3):1362-8. doi: 10.1021/nl404412w. Epub 2014 Feb 21.

Abstract

The nanoscale structural, compositional, and magnetic properties are examined for annealed MnAu nanoclusters. The MnAu clusters order into the L1(0) structure, and monotonic size-dependences develop for the composition and lattice parameters, which are well reproduced by our density functional theory calculations. Simultaneously, Mn diffusion forms 5 Å nanoshells on larger clusters inducing significant magnetization in an otherwise antiferromagnetic system. The differing atomic mobilities yield new cluster nanostructures that can be employed generally to create novel physical properties.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.