Residual impurity effects on the magnetic ordering in α-Mn observed by hyperfine interaction

Abstract

We report on the lattice location of indium in and the magnetic ordering of manganese in its α- and β-phases, as seen by perturbed angular correlation. Quadrupole interaction spectra show that indium prefers to replace Mn atoms of type I in α-Mn, but replaces type II atoms in the β-Mn structure. The interaction strength equalseQV _zz /h=3.6 (6) MHz in α-Mn and 172.3 (3) MHz with ν=0.13 (1) in β-Mn. No magnetic ordering down to 4.2 K was observed in β-Mn, while belowT _N =95 K in the α-Mn phase, a magnetic hyperfine interaction appears indicating two distinct magnetic probe environments. The hyperfine field, when measured atT=4.2 K, equals for 70% of the probes 6.33 (1) T, while the remaining fraction senses a 3.10 (4) T field. The magnitudes of the hyperfine fields are essentially unaffected by a variety of conditions in the sample preparation. The ordering temperature, on the contrary, turns out to be rather sensitive to residual impurities especially any oxygen contamination.