Role of the Cluster Structure of Amorphous Fe67Cr18B15 Alloy in Magnetism and in the Changing of Electron Scattering Mechanisms under the Influence of Ion (Ar+) Irradiation

Abstract

The contribution of clusters of different sizes to magnetism and the switching of electron scattering mechanisms in amorphous Fe67Cr18B15 alloy during ion Ar+ irradiation is studied. The cluster magnetism is found to be related to the presence of clusters of the following two types: large α-(Fe, Cr) clusters of size D = 150–250 A and small (D = 40–80 A) clusters in a random intercluster medium. The generation of small ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic clusters during ion irradiation leads to the formation of cluster glass, which affects the electrical properties of the alloy and causes a magnetic frustration. The temperature dependence of the barrier height is shown to characterize the magnetic state of the alloy in low fields. On the whole, the temperature dependence of the order parameter is a universal characteristic of the system. The temperature dependence of resistivity of initial alloys in the temperature range 98–300 K (ρ(T) ∝ T2) is determined by electron scattering by quantum defects, and the transition into a ferromagnetic state is revealed when the derivative ∂ρ/∂T ∝ T is analyzed. The increase in resistivity and the relation ρ ∝ T1/2 in strongly inhomogeneous samples after irradiation at a dose Φ = 1.5 × 1018 ions/cm2 are caused by weak localization effects, and the transition to a ferromagnetic state becomes obvious when the derivative ∂ρ/∂T ∝ T–1/2 is considered. Irradiation by fluence Φ = 3 × 1018 ions/cm2 induces a giant (twofold) increase in the alloy density, restores the ferromagnetism of large clusters, decreases the resistivity by 37%, and restores the relation ρ(T) ∝ T2, which results from the overlapping of the irradiation-induced small clusters when their concentration increases and from an increase in the alloy density. The overlapping of clusters lowers the barrier height and decreases the sensitivity of the alloy to an applied field. The relation ρ(T) ∝ T2 is valid for the entire temperature range T = 2–300 K because of the partial screening of the magnetic moments of large clusters by a medium having the properties of cluster glass.