Systematic study of the temperature dependence of the saturation magnetization in Fe, Fe-Ni and Co-based amorphous alloys

Magnetization versus temperature in the temperature interval 2-200 K was measured for amorphous alloys of three different compositions: Fe/sub 81.5/B/sub 14.5/Si/sub 4/, Fe/sub 40/Ni/sub 38/Mo/sub 4/B/sub 18/, and Co/sub 70/Fe/sub 5/Ni/sub 2/Mo/sub 3/B/sub 5/Si/sub 15/. The measurements were performed by means of a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometer. The aim was to extract information about the different mechanisms contributing to thermal demagnetization. A powerful data analysis technique based on successive minimization procedures has demonstrated that Stoner excitations of the strong ferromagnetic type play a significant role in the Fe-Ni alloy studied. The Fe-rich and Co-rich alloys do not show a measurable contribution from single-particle excitations.<
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