Magnetic behavior of Fe and Tm in Zn–Fe–Sc–Tm icosahedral quasicrystals

Abstract

Abstract The magnetic properties of p-type Zn77Fe7Sc16–x Tm x (x = 0, 1, 2, 4 and 6) icosahedral quasicrystals have been investigated. The magnetic susceptibility of these samples obeys Curie-Weiss paramagnetism in 72–300 K. The estimated Curie constants indicated that 3d Fe magnetic moments also exist besides 4f Tm in these quasicrystals. In the lower temperature region, spin glass-like behavior was observed for all samples with freezing temperature 7.0–9.5 K. For samples with higher concentration of Tm, namely x = 2, 4 and 6, the magnetic susceptibility increase as temperature decrease below the freezing temperature. This behavior indicates weak antiferromagnetic interaction between 4f Tm magnetic moments.