Magnetic clustering in LaNi5−xFex compounds

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Abstract
The magnetic phase diagram of LaNi5−xFex (0≤x≤1.2) has recently been investigated down to 20 K. This range has been extended here down to 1.6 K. Magnetic susceptibility curves χ(T) go through a maximum and then strongly decrease upon cooling below a temperature T1 which, for all iron concentrations, is smaller than 15 K, i.e., much smaller than the Curie temperature Tc for x≥0.4 or the spin freezing temperature for xT1. Mössbauer spectra do not show any anomalous behavior of the hyperfine field upon cooling through T1. These results, associated to the continuous behavior of the magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity versus the iron concentration, suggest that with decreasing temperature there is a progressive freezing of small magnetic clusters which coexists with long‐range ferromagnetic ordering for x≥0.4.