Extended scaling in the magnetic critical phenomenology of the σ-phase Fe0.53–Cr0.47 and Fe0.52–V0.48 alloys

Abstract

The magnetization of the sigma-phase Fe0.53Cr0.47 and Fe0.52V0.48 alloys was studied as a function of temperature and field. The experiments show that both materials behave magnetically as re-entrant spin glass systems. Field versus temperature diagrams were obtained where the locations of the paramagnetic phase, the intermediate ferromagnetic-like phase and the spin glass fundamental state were displayed. These diagrams are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the mean field theory for the interplay between the ferromagnetic and spin glass orderings. The critical phenomenology near the para–ferromagnetic transition could be investigated. It was found that the paramagnetic susceptibility is quite well described by the extended scaling scheme, where the reduced temperature is written as τ = (T − Tc)/T. The value obtained for the susceptibility critical exponent γ is intermediate between the prediction of the 3D Heisenberg universality class and the large values observed in spin glasses, as previously found in other re-entrant systems. The data do not confirm the validity of the extended scaling in the ferromagnetic-like phase. Using either the conventional or extended scaling protocols, the exponents β and δ were found to have values close to those reported for spin glass transitions. Despite the relevance of disorder and the anomalous values determined for β, γ and δ, the Widom scaling relation holds as an equality.