Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in Doped Face-Centered Cubic Fe Nanoparticles

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 2; no. 6; pp. 804 - 809
• Main Authors: Wei, Bingqing, Shima, Mutsuhiro, Pati, Ranjit, Nayak, Saroj K., Singh, David J., Ma, Renzhi, Li, Yubao, Bando, Yoshio, Nasu, Saburo, Ajayan, Pulickel M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01-06-2006; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: carbon nanotubes; Crystallization - methods; doping; ferromagnetism; Graphite - chemistry; iron; Iron - chemistry; Macromolecular Substances - chemistry; Magnetics; Materials Testing; Molecular Conformation; nanoparticles; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology - methods; Particle Size; Surface Properties; Temperature
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.200500436

The magnetism of Fe and its alloys has been at the center of scientific and technological interest for decades. Along with the ferromagnetic nature of body‐centered cubic Fe, the magnetic properties of face‐centered cubic (fcc) Fe have attracted much attention. It is well known that fcc Fe is thermodynamically unstable at ambient conditions and not ferromagnetic. Contrary to what is known, we report that elongated nanoparticles of fcc Fe, grown within graphitic nanotubes, remain structurally stable and appear ferromagnetic at room temperature. The magnetic moment (2±0.5 μB) in these nanoparticles and the hyperfine fields for two different components of 57Fe (33 and 21 T), measured by Mössbauer spectroscopy, are explained by carbon interstitials in the expanded fcc Fe lattice, that is, FeCx where x≈0.10, which result in the formation of a dominant Fe4C stoichiometry. First‐principles calculations suggest that the ferromagnetism observed in the fcc Fe is related to both lattice expansion and charge transfer between iron and carbon. The understanding of strain‐ and dopant‐induced ferromagnetism in the fcc Fe could lead to the development of new fcc Fe‐based alloys for magnetic applications.
About face: Fe–C alloys and face‐centered cubic (fcc) Fe are not ferromagnetic under ambient conditions, but ferromagnetism has been observed in elongated nanoparticles of fcc Fe formed inside carbon nanotubes (see figure). The magnetic moment and hyperfine fields in 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy are explained by C atoms at octahedral interstitial sites in an expanded fcc Fe lattice.