Thesis-2005-Stephens.pdf (4.89 MB)
An investigation of the magnetic properties of heavy REPtln alloys
thesis
posted on 2018-08-08, 10:07 authored by Tamsin StephensPreviously studies of the heavy REPtIn alloys (RE = rare earth) have shown a canting
of the magnetic moments away from the c-axis. This tilting is still present even with
the introduction of external fields up to 5.5 Tesla. The mechanism causing the tilting
is still unknown.
To obtain more information about the cause of this tilting an experimental
investigation of the magnetic properties of these heavy REPtln alloys has been made.
A working hypothesis is presented for the model responsible for the canting. This
proposes that conduction electrons passing from one rare earth atom to the next pass
via the platinum atom. Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction caused by the spin-orbital
field of the platinum causes the non-collinear structure. Through measurements of
specific heat and magnetism and elastic and inelastic neutron scattering information
has been gathered to help to explore this hypothesis and examine the crystal fields
which also determine the magnetic properties of these alloys.
Funding
Loughborough University.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Physics
Publisher
© Tamsin StephensPublisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2005Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy at Loughborough University.Language
- en