Finite-temperature theory of amorphous magnetic alloys

Abstract

A finite-temperature theory of magnetism in amorphous magnetic alloys with strong environment effects is developed on the basis of the functional integral method for thermal spin fluctuations and the distribution-function method for random distribution of local magnetic moments. The theory drastically simplifies numerical calculations by means of the geometrical-mean model for amorphous structure as well as electronic structure, and allows us to investigate the magnetism in amorphous transition-metal alloys with large difference in atomic size via average coordination number which depends on the type of central atom. Numerical example is given of the amorphous Fe-Zr alloys. It is demonstrated that the theory reproduces quantitatively the local densities of states obtained from the first-principles calculations, and describes the magnetic phase diagram, in particular, the itinerant-electron spin glass. It is also shown that the atomic-size effects play an important role in the formation of ferromagnetism in concentrated Fe-Zr amorphous alloys. The reentrant spin-glass behavior around 90 at. % Fe is shown to be due to the thermal spin fluctuations of amplitudes of local magnetic moments. © 1994 The American Physical Society.