I. Bakonyi et al., MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF ELECTRODEPOSITED, MELT-QUENCHED, AND LIQUID NI-P ALLOYS, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 47(22), 1993, pp. 14961-14976
A comprehensive study of the magnetic properties of Ni100-xPx alloys p
repared by electrodeposition with 11.5 less-than-or-equal-to x less-th
an-or-equal-to 23.2 and by melt quenching with 16.3 less-than-or-equal
-to x less-than-or-equal-to 21.0 was performed for temperatures 4.2 le
ss than or similar to T less-than-or-equal-to 300 K in magnetic fields
up to H = 9 kOe and, for most of the melt-quenched alloys, for T grea
ter-than-or-equal-to 300 K including the molten state as well. The ind
ividual contributions to the magnetization were identified and determi
ned separately. The matrix of Ni-P alloys was found to exhibit Pauli p
aramagnetism for x greater than or similar to 17 and very weak itinera
nt ferromagnetism for x less than or similar to 14. However, magnetic
inhomogeneities in the form of ferromagnetic precipitates, giant-momen
t paramagnetic clusters and/or superparamagnetic particles could be id
entified throughout the whole concentration range studied and their am
ount and character varied significantly with alloy composition and pre
paration technique. In the paramagnetic phase, the temperature-indepen
dent Pauli susceptibility was not sensitive to the way of preparation,
it agreed well with extrapolated room-temperature liquid-state data,
decreased approximately linearly with increasing P content and extrapo
lated to the corresponding value of the crystalline stoichiometric com
pound Ni3P. In the ferromagnetic phase, the magnetization data of the
matrix could be reasonably well accounted for in terms of the Stoner-E
dwards-Wohlfarth model and the theory of Mathon, yielding 85.7 at. % N
i as the critical concentration for the onset of spontaneous magnetic
order. For alloys in the intermediate composition range (14 less than
or similar to x less than or similar to 17), the observed magnetizatio
n was dominated by the contribution of superparamagnetic particles.