MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF PD-2.9 AT-PERCENT FE FINE PARTICLES

Magnetization and small-angle-polarized neutron-scattering measurement s have been performed on Pd-2.9 at.% Fe fine particles prepared by the conventional gas evaporation method. It was found that decreasing the particle size reduces the saturation magnetization at 5 K. This reduc tion can be explained in terms of a nonmagnetic surface shell whose th ickness is estimated to be similar to 12 Angstrom in the sample, with a 162-Angstrom median radius based on the small-angle-polarized neutro n-scattering experiments. The saturation magnetization of the core is estimated to be enhanced by a factor of 1.3 compared with that of the bulk PdFe. This probably indicates that the Pd host in the PdFe partic les is more magnetically enhanced compared with that in the bulk PdFe, which is consistent with our previous report on pure Pd fine particle s.