ROTATION OF ANISOTROPY IN A NI76MN24 SPIN-GLASS ALLOY

Measurements of the longitudinal and transverse magnetization componen ts (M(L),M(T)) were performed on a field-cooled thin-disk-like sample of disordered Ni76Mn24 as it was rotated in various fixed fields. Our experimental data were presented at low temperatures which are well be low the spin-glass freezing temperature (almost-equal-to 116 K). The o bserved rotational behavior of the anisotropy is consistent with neith er a purely directional character nor a unidirectional and uniaxial ch aracter in the assumption of a rigid rotation. We also take into accou nt the possible incoherent domain rotations. Such a possibility also d oes not seem solely to explain this rotational behavior. However, the data are well described by the fact that the unidirectional anisotropy is not rigidly linked to the lattice along its initial direction, but it can be elastically rotated by the applied field. These experimenta l results are also in good agreement with a ''domain anisotropy model' ' suggesting a multidomain configuration even in a field-cooled state, which affects the rotation of the anisotropy.