Electronic structure of Sm₂Fe₁₇N_x compounds

Authors

J.P. Woods, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A.S. Fernando, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Sitaram Jaswal, University of NebraskaFollow
B.M. Patterson, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
D. Welipitiya, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

May 1993

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. J. Applied Physics 73, 6913 (1993). ©1993 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://jap.aip.org/jap/.

Abstract

Sm₂Fe₁₇N_x is of considerable current interest as a permanent-magnet material because of its enhanced Curie temperature and uniaxial anisotropy. The electronic structures of Sm₂Fe₁₇N_x for x=0 and x~2.6 have been studied with photoemission and spin-polarized calculations. The materials are prepared by arc melting and nitrogen is introduced by ion implantation. The nitrogen concentration is quantified with Auger electron spectroscopy. The Sm 4f electrons with binding energies between 6 and 10 eV are investigated with resonant photoemission using photon energies near 140 eV. The major features of ultra-violet photoemission spectra include the Fe 3d band with a strong peak at 0.8 eV and a small peak at 2.9 eV below the Fermi energy which agree quite well with the theoretical density of states calculation. The modification of the electronic structure with nitrogen concentration is studied to understand the effect of nitrogen addition on the magnetic properties. Journal of Applied Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.