AMORPHOUS IRON REVISITED - AN AB AB-INITIO STUDY

The magnetic order in structurally disordered Fe is studied by ab init io band-structure calculations which are performed in a fully self-con sistent manner with respect to both. magnitude and orientation of the local magnetic moments. Several degrees of structural disorder as well as the density dependence of the magnetic state are considered. It is shown that the observed phenomena in amorphous iron can be understood in relation to the magnetic states of fee iron: At low densities (les s than or equal to 7.4 g/cm(3)) amorphous iron remains ferromagnetic, at approximate to 7.9 g/cm(3) competing exchange interactions lead to statistical spin configurations, at higher densities (approximate to 8 .4 g/cm(3)) spatially fluctuating antiferromagnetic couplings result i n a smearing of the magnetic states of fee iron at the corresponding d ensity.