Magnetic Properties and Structure of Melt-Quenched Sm-Fe Alloys

The atomic structure and magnetic properties of melt-quenched Sm100-xFex (x=1, 10, 20, 30, 40) alloys were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. For x=10, 20, 30 or 40, clusters of amorphous Sm-Fe phases are formed in an hep Sm matrix Some of these behave superparamagnetically. The thermomagnetic curves for x=10, 20, 30 samples exhibited a field cooling effect at temperatures less than 160K, which is the magnetic transition temperature of pure hep Sm. This effect is due to inter-cluster interactions induced by magnetic ordering in the hep Sm matrix. For x=1, Fe atoms are dissolved in the Sm matrix and their magnetic moments are very small.