Localized spin waves at low temperatures in a Cobalt Carbide nanocomposite

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of a cobalt carbide nanocomposite, revealing a phase transition at 43 K linked to confined spin waves and surface spin freezing effects.

Contribution

It provides new insights into low-temperature spin wave behavior and phase transitions in cobalt carbide nanocomposites, highlighting the role of finite size effects and magnetic decoupling.

Findings

Steep increase in saturation magnetization below 100 K due to surface spin freezing.

Observation of a phase transition at 43 K with anomalies in heat capacity and thermal conductivity.

Finite size effects lead to confined spin waves, altering magnetic behavior at low temperatures.

Abstract

We study magnetic, transport and thermal properties of Cobalt carbide nanocomposite with a mixture of Co2C and Co3C phases in 1:1 ratio, with an average particle diameter of 40$\pm 15$ nm. We show that the behavior of the nanocomposite is completely different from that of either Co3C or Co2C. We observed that with decreasing temperature the saturation magnetization MS(T) increases, however, below 100 K, there is a steep rise. A detail analysis shows the increase in MS(T) down to 100 K is explained via the surface spin freezing model. However, below 100 K the steep increase in MS(T) is explained by a finite size effect related to a confinement of spin waves within the nano particles. The measurement of heat capacity shows broad peak at 100 K along with presence of another anomaly at a lower temperature 43 K(=Tex). Resistance measurement in the nanocomposite shows metallic behavior at high T with an unusual anomaly appearing at Tex, which is near the T regime where MS(T) begins to increase steeply. A measurement of the temperature gradients across the sample thickness indicates an abrupt change in thermal conductivity at Tex which suggests a phase transition at Tex. Our results are explained in terms of a transformation from a magnetically coupled state with a continuous spectrum of spin waves into a magnetically decoupled state below 100 K with confined spin waves.