Impact of lattice dynamics on the phase stability of metamagnetic FeRh: Bulk and thin films

We present phonon dispersions, element-resolved vibrational density of states (VDOS) and corresponding thermodynamic properties obtained by a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) across the metamagnetic transition of B2 FeRh in the bulk material and thin epitaxial films. We see distinct differences in the VDOS of the antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) phase which provide a microscopic proof of strong spin-phonon coupling in FeRh. The FM VDOS exhibits a particular sensitivity to the slight tetragonal distortions present in epitaxial films, which is not encountered in the AF phase. This results in a notable change in lattice entropy, which is important for the comparison between thin film and bulk results. Our calculations confirm the recently reported lattice instability in the AF phase. The imaginary frequencies at the $X$-point depend critically on the Fe magnetic moment and atomic volume. Analyzing these non vibrational modes leads to the discovery of a stable monoclinic ground state structure which is robustly predicted from DFT but not verified in our thin film experiments. Specific heat, entropy and free energy calculated within the quasiharmonic approximation suggest that the new phase is possibly suppressed because of its relatively smaller lattice entropy. In the bulk phase, lattice degrees of freedom contribute with the same sign and in similar magnitude to the isostructural AF-FM phase transition as the electronic and magnetic subsystems and therefore needs to be included in thermodynamic modeling.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Interface-related magnetic and vibrational properties in Fe/MgO heterostructures from nuclear resonant spectroscopy and first-principles calculations

We combine ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and ⁵⁷Fe nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS) on nanoscale polycrystalline [bcc−⁵⁷Fe/MgO] multilayers with various Fe-layer thicknesses and layer-resolved density-functional-theory (DFT)-based first-principles calculations of a (001)-oriented [Fe(8 ML)/MgO(8 ML)](001) heterostructure (where ML denotes monolayer) to unravel the interface-related atomic vibrational properties of a multilayer system. Being consistent in theory and experiment, we observe enhanced hyperfine magnetic fields B_(hf) in the multilayers as compared to B_(hf) in bulk bcc Fe; this effect is associated with the Fe/MgO interface layers. NRIXS and DFT both reveal a strong reduction of the longitudinal acoustic phonon peak in combination with an enhancement of the low-energy vibrational density of states (VDOS) suggesting that the presence of interfaces and the associated increase in the layer-resolved magnetic moments results in drastic changes in the Fe-partial VDOS. From the experimental and calculated VDOS, vibrational thermodynamic properties have been determined as a function of Fe thickness and were found to be in excellent agreement

Local electronic and magnetic properties of pure and Mn-containing magnetocaloric LaFe13−xSixcompounds inferred from Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetometry

Manganese containing La–Fe–Si alloys are important magnetocaloric compounds, since Mn atoms prevent segregation of hydrogen in partially hydrogenated La–Fe–Mn–Si alloys when their Curie temperature is tuned to room temperature by hydrogen. The effect of Mn alloying on the Fe atomic magnetic moment μ Fe is still rather unexplored. Therefore, we investigated the (local) magnetic and electric hyperfine interactions in the strongly magnetocaloric compound LaFe11.3Mn0.3Si1.4 and, for comparison, LaFe11.6Si1.4 by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, and the global magnetic properties by vibrating sample magnetometry. The NaZn13 structure was confirmed by x-ray diffraction. Two non-equivalent Fe lattice sites are known to exist in this material: the (96i) sites (FeII) of low local symmetry, and the highly symmetrical (8b) sites (FeI). At room temperature in the paramagnetic state, the electric hyperfine parameters of Fe atoms on both sites were obtained. At low temperatures (4.8 K), the observed magnetically split nuclear Zeeman sextets with broad apparent lines were analyzed in terms of a distribution P(B hf) of hyperfine magnetic fields B hf. The average hyperfine field 〈B hf〉, originating predominantly from FeII sites, was found to be rather high (30.7(1) T at 4.8 K) for LaFe11.6Si1.4, and the approximate relation 〈B hf〉 = Aμ Fe is confirmed for FeII sites, with A = 14.2 T/μ B. 〈B hf〉 is significantly reduced (to 27.7(1) T at 4.8 K) for the Mn-containing sample LaFe11.3Mn0.3Si1.4, providing evidence for a reduction by 9.7% of the average Fe atomic moment μFe from ~2.16 μ B to a value of ~1.95 μ B by Mn substitution of Fe. Our Mössbauer results are in good agreement with magnetometry, which reveals a reduction of the saturation magnetization of M s = 163.1(1) Am2 kg−1 of LaFe11.6Si1.4 by 10.5% due to Mn substitution

Moment-Volume Coupling in La(Fe1−x Si x )13

We investigate the origin of the volume change and magnetoelastic interaction observed at the magnetic first-order transition in the magnetocaloric system La(Fe1-xSix)(13) by means of first-principles calculations combined with the fixed-spin moment approach. We find that the volume of the system varies with the square of the average local Fe moment, which is significantly smaller in the spin disordered configurations compared to the ferromagnetic ground state. The vibrational density of states obtained for a hypothetical ferromagnetic state with artificially reduced spin-moments compared to a nuclear inelastic X-ray scattering measurement directly above the phase transition reveals that the anomalous softening at the transition essentially depends on the same moment-volume coupling mechanism. In the same spirit, the dependence of the average local Fe moment on the Si content can account for the occurence of first- and second-order transitions in the system

Moment‐Volume Coupling in La(Fe 1 −x

We investigate the origin of the volume change and magnetoelastic interaction observed at the magnetic first-order transition in the magnetocaloric system La(Fe1-xSix)(13) by means of first-principles calculations combined with the fixed-spin moment approach. We find that the volume of the system varies with the square of the average local Fe moment, which is significantly smaller in the spin disordered configurations compared to the ferromagnetic ground state. The vibrational density of states obtained for a hypothetical ferromagnetic state with artificially reduced spin-moments compared to a nuclear inelastic X-ray scattering measurement directly above the phase transition reveals that the anomalous softening at the transition essentially depends on the same moment-volume coupling mechanism. In the same spirit, the dependence of the average local Fe moment on the Si content can account for the occurence of first- and second-order transitions in the system

Magnetic response of FeRh to static and dynamic disorder

Atomic scale defects generated using focused ion as well as laser beams can activate ferromagnetism in initially non-ferromagnetic B2 ordered alloy thin film templates. Such defects can be induced locally, confining the ferromagnetic objects within well-defined nanoscale regions. The characterization of these atomic scale defects is challenging, and the mechanism for the emergence of ferromagnetism due to sensitive lattice disordering is unclear. Here we directly probe a variety of microscopic defects in systematically disordered B2 FeRh thin films that are initially antiferromagnetic and undergo a thermally-driven isostructural phase transition to a volatile ferromagnetic state. We show that the presence of static disorder i.e., the slight deviations of atoms from their equilibrium sites is sufficient to induce a non-volatile ferromagnetic state at room temperature. A static mean square relative displacement of 9 × 10(−4) Å(−2) is associated with the occurrence of non-volatile ferromagnetism and replicates a snapshot of the dynamic disorder observed in the thermally-driven ferromagnetic state. The equivalence of static and dynamic disorder with respect to the ferromagnetic behavior can provide insights into the emergence of ferromagnetic coupling as well as achieving tunable magnetic properties through defect manipulations in alloys