MAGNETIC-MOMENTS AND CHEMICAL BONDING IN ISOLATED BINCOM CLUSTERS

Isolated BiNCoM clusters with variable Co content are generated by rea ctions between Co-M and Bi-N particles dispersed in a He flow. The mag netic properties of the BiNCoM clusters are investigated by the Stern- Gerlach deflection method in a molecular beam experiment. The magnetic moments of the clusters are extracted from the measured deflections b y means of a statistical mechanics model. The magnetic moments of the BiNCoM clusters can be consistently understood by ferromagnetic orderi ng of the magnetic moments of the Co atom cores in the clusters and ad ditional effects due to the chemical bonding with the Bi in the cluste r. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.