Structural and Magnetic Evolution of Bimetallic MnAu Clusters Driven by Asymmetric Atomic Migration

• Published in: Nano letters 2014-03, Vol.14 (3), p.1362-1368
• Main Authors: Wei, Xiaohui, Zhou, Rulong, Lefebvre, Williams, He, Kai, Le Roy, Damien, Skomski, Ralph, Li, Xingzhong, Shield, Jeffrey E, Kramer, Matthew J, Chen, Shuang, Zeng, Xiao Cheng, Sellmyer, David J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Atomic mobilities; Atomic structure; Clusters; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Diffusion; Diffusion in nanoscale solids; Diffusion in solids; Exact sciences and technology; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Magnetic properties; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetic properties of nanostructures; Magnetization; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Nanostructure; Physics; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Transport properties of condensed matter (nonelectronic)
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl404412w

The nanoscale structural, compositional, and magnetic properties are examined for annealed MnAu nanoclusters. The MnAu clusters order into the L10 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.