Magnetic Properties of Al-Gd-TM Glass-Forming Alloys

We report results of magnetic studies of glass-forming alloys with nominal composition of Al₈₆Gd₆TM₈ (where TM = Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, Ti, Zr, Mo, Ta) synthesized by arc-melting. X-ray diffraction analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry were applied to characterize the prepared samples. All the alloys exhibit antiferromagnetic ordering at low temperatures. In some compositions, we observed metamagnetic transitions in external magnetic fields up to 3 T. Analysis of the paramagnetic susceptibility of the considered Al-Gd-TM systems has revealed non-magnetic behavior of the transition metals. We found that the magnetic properties of the studied samples can be described satisfactorily using only the Gd trivalent ions. But in some cases the magnetic moments of gadolinium are slightly larger than the theoretical values, probably, because of an additional contribution of the 5d electrons. The obtained results are discussed in framework of the assumptions of the strong s-p-d hybridization and frustrated magnetic states of gadolinium. We argue that the hybridization might be one of the main factors improving the glass-forming ability in these ternary alloys.