INTRINSIC SPIN-DENSITY-WAVE MAGNETISM IN CU-MN ALLOYS

Elastic neutron-scattering measurements on two samples of Cu alloyed with 1.3% Mn and 0.55% Mn show that the spin-density-wave (SDW) features found in more concentrated alloys persist in the limit of very dilute alloys. These features consist of temperature-dependent incommensurate peaks in magnetic neutron scattering, with positions and strengths which are fully consistent with those in the concentrated alloys. The implications of these measurements are twofold. First, it is clear from our data that SDW magnetic ordering occurs across the entire range of Cu-Mn alloys which have typically been interpreted as spin glasses. Second, the more fundamental significance of this work is the suggestion via extrapolation that a peak in the magnetic susceptibility (q) occurs in pure copper, at a value of q given by the Fermi-surface diameter 2kF. © 1995 The American Physical Society.