Electron and Nuclear Spin Resonance and Magnetic Susceptibility Experiments on Dilute Alloys of Mn in Cu

Abstract

Dilute alloys of Mn in Cu are expected to show marked effects of the exchange interaction between the $3{d}^{5}$ ion core electrons of the Mn atoms and the $4s$ conduction electrons of the crystal. The simple model leads to the prediction of indirect exchange ferromagnetism; electronic Knight shift of the electron spin resonance line; nuclear Knight shift of the copper nuclear resonance; electron spin relaxation by the coupling with the conduction electrons; and a contribution to the electrical resistivity by the Elliott-Schmitt mechanism. The observed width of the electron spin resonance line suggests that the $\mathrm{sd}$ exchange interaction may be of the order of 0.2 of the interaction in the free ion. The dilute alloys appear to be antiferromagnetic, but with a ferromagnetic interaction also present which is rather stronger than calculated on the indirect exchange model. An unexpected experimental result is that the nuclear Knight shift is unaffected by the presence of Mn, suggesting that the conduction electron magnetization by the $\mathrm{sd}$ coupling is less than $\frac{1}{50}$ of what might be expected.