High-temperature weak ferromagnetism in a low-density free-electron gas
Open Access
- 1 February 1999
- journal article
- letter
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature
- Vol. 397 (6718) , 412-414
- https://doi.org/10.1038/17081
Abstract
The magnetic properties of the ground state of a low-density free-electron gas in three dimensions have been the subject of theoretical speculation and controversy for seven decades1. Not only is this a difficult theoretical problem to solve, it is also a problem which has not hitherto been directly addressed experimentally. Here we report measurements on electron-doped calcium hexaboride (CaB6) which, we argue, show that—at a density of 7× 1019 electrons cm−3—the ground state is ferromagnetically polarized with a saturation moment of 0.07 µB per electron. Surprisingly, the magnetic ordering temperature of this itinerant ferromagnet is 600 K, of the order of the Fermi temperature of the electron gas.Keywords
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