Temperature behavior of magnetic susceptibility and paramagnetism of the conduction electrons of an icosahedral quasicrystal Al63Cu25Fe12

• Published in: Physics of metals and metallography 2008-08, Vol.106 (2), p.157-163
• Main Authors: Prekul, A. F., Shchegolikhina, N. I., Shalaeva, E. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrical and Magnetic Properties; Magnetism; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Temperature
• ISSN: 0031-918X; 1555-6190
• DOI: 10.1134/S0031918X08080073

Problem of the origin of the enhanced paramagnetism of icosahedral phases below room temperature is studied experimentally. Temperature dependences of the magnetic susceptibility (χ( T )), Hall constant ( R H ( T )), and conductivity (χ( T )) of the i phase of a nominal composition of Al 63 Cu 25 Fe 12 are studied at temperatures of 4.2–400 K in magnetic fields of to 5 T. Temperature-dependent components of these quantities, namely, σ t , χ t , and R t were separated. The temperature-dependent component of the magnetic susceptibility χ t is approximately proportional to T 2 . The number of thermally-induced charge carries n t and the ratio χ t / n t are approximately proportional to T 3 and T −1 , respectively. Thus, we found two distinctive criteria indicating that temperature-induced changes in the conduction-electron paramagnetism play a substantial role in the magnetic properties of icosahedral phases at low temperatures. Earlier, these changes were considered to be substantial only at temperatures above the Debye temperature.