Effect of magnetism on the lattice dynamics in the sigma-phase Fe-Cr alloys

TL;DR

This study investigates how magnetism influences lattice vibrations in sigma-phase Fe-Cr alloys, revealing spin-phonon coupling effects near magnetic transition temperatures through Mossbauer spectroscopy.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence of magnetism affecting lattice dynamics in sigma-phase Fe-Cr alloys via anomalies in Mossbauer parameters.

Findings

Anomalies in f and <CS> near magnetic transition temperature.

Lattice vibrations harden due to spin-phonon coupling.

Potential and kinetic energy changes correlate with temperature.

Abstract

Anomalies in the temperature dependences of the recoil-free factor, f, and the average center shift, <CS>, measured by 57-Fe Mossbauer Spectroscopy, were observed for the first time in the archetype of the \sigma-phase alloys system, Fe-Cr. In both cases the anomaly started at the temperature close to the magnetic ordering temperature, and in both cases it was indicative of lattice vibrations hardening. As no magnetostrictive effects were found, the anomalies seem to be entirely due to a spin-phonon coupling. The observed changes in f and in <CS> were expressed in terms of the underlying changes in the potential, \Delta E_p, and the kinetic energy, \Delta E_k, respectively. The former, with the maximum value larger by a factor of six than the latter, decreases, while the latter increases with T. The total mechanical energy change, \Delta E, was, in general, not constant, as expected for the Debye-like vibrations, but it resembled that of \Delta E_p. Only in the range of 4-15 K, \Delta E was hardly dependent on T.