Collapse of ferromagnetism in itinerant-electron system: A magnetic, transport properties, and high pressure study of (Hf,Ta)Fe2 compounds

Abstract

The magnetism and transport properties were studied for Laves (Hf,Ta)Fe2 itinerant-electron compounds, which exhibit a temperature-induced first-order transition from the ferromagnetic (FM) to the antiferromagnetic (AFM) state upon heating. At finite temperatures, the field-induced metamagnetic phase transition between the AFM and FM has considerable effects on the transport properties of these model metamagnetic compounds. A large negative magnetoresistance of about 14% is observed in accordance with the metamagnetic transition. The magnetic phase diagram is determined for the Laves Hf1−xTaxFe2 series and its Ta concentration dependence discussed. An unusual behavior is revealed in the paramagnetic state of intermediate compositions, it gives rise to the rapid increase and saturation of the local spin fluctuations of the 3d electrons. This new result is analysed in the frame of the theory of Moriya. For a chosen composition Hf0.825Ta0.175Fe2, exhibiting such remarkable features, a detailed investigation is carried out under hydrostatic pressure up to 1 GPa in order to investigate the volume effect on the magnetic properties. With increasing pressure, the magnetic transition temperature TFM-AFM from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic order decreases strongly non-linearly and disappears at a critical pressure of 0.75 GPa. In the pressure-induced AFM state, the field-induced first-order AFM-FM transition appears and the complex temperature dependence of the AFM-FM transition field is explained by the contribution from both the magnetic and elastic energies caused by the significant temperature variation of the amplitude of the local Fe magnetic moment. The application of an external pressure leads also to the progressive decrease of the Néel temperature TN. In addition, a large pressure effect on the spontaneous magnetization MS for pressures below 0.45 GPa, dln(Ms)/dP = −6.3 × 10−2 GPa−1 was discovered. The presented results are consistent with Moriya's theoretical predictions and can significantly help to better understand the underlying physics of itinerant electron magnetic systems nowadays widely investigated for both fundamental and applications purposes.